After a wait of five years, the new Rao Tula Ram (RTR) Marg flyover was inaugurated Tuesday. Although the new elevated road promises to ease the perennial traffic bottlenecks between Munirka and Subroto Park in south Delhi, commuters may have face new choke-points around the area.

The Public Works Department (PWD) officials said with the opening of the three-lane RTR flyover on Tuesday, the agency will now focus on the construction of Benito Juarez Road -San Martin Road underpass. The expedition of the underpass construction is likely to slow down traffic on Benito Juarez Road, RTR Marg and Moti Bagh.

“RTR flyover was one of the key infrastructure projects in the city, which was running way behind schedule. All our efforts were directed towards the completion of the flyover. Now that we have opened this to public, we will speed up work on the Benito Juarez Road-San Martin Road underpass,” a senior official of the PWD said.

Officials said the work on the project is likely to require traffic diversions on the Benito Juarez Road— the radial road connecting the Ring Road with the Outer Ring Road — which is already clogged with vehicles parked outside the Delhi University’s south campus colleges. The road is also choked with vehicles headed towards Satya Niketan market.

Another possible choke-point could be the RTR-Ring Road intersection. Although the Delhi traffic police is yet to finalise a diversion plan during the construction of the underpass, officials said a section of traffic coming from Nauroji Nagar is likely to be diverted towards RK Puram Sector 12 and Nanakpura on RTR Marg, to ease the load on the Ring Road.

“We are yet to receive a request from the PWD for making a traffic diversion plan for this area. In the initial talks, however, we said we could not allow the closure of parts of two major roads, so close to one another. Now that the RTR flyover on the Outer Ring Road is opened, we can provide permissions for the Ring Road,” a senior traffic official said.

The three-lane underpass, near Venkateswara College, being constructed by the PWD, has been delayed due to shifting of utilities, and the complex construction work. The dual access one-way underpass will begin near Springdales School on Benito Juarez Road and will pass under the South Campus Metro station on the Ring Road. One arm of the underpass will go to San Martin Road while the other will open on Ring Road towards Moti Bagh.

“Digging beneath Ring Road will be the most complex part as it would require diversion of traffic. The traffic volume on the road is high and so we will have to carry out work in a way that commuters do not face much problem,” a PWD official, familiar with the project, said.

First Published: Jul 16, 2019 23:45 IST