Gurgaon: The much-awaited Ambience Mall underpass on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway is expected to be opened for commuters by May 15, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has said. The U-turn underpass is nearly 95% complete and will be ready by the end of April.
NHAI has directed the project contractor — RK Contractor — to ensure that all the construction work is completed by April-end and the underpass is opened for the traffic latest by the second week of May. “We have directed the contractor to set this month-end as their target to finish the basic construction work. Thereafter, they can take a few days to make the underpass ready for traffic. We are hoping that the underpass will become operational by the second week of May and bring relief to commuters in the city,” said a senior NHAI official.
According to the contractor, the excavation work is almost complete. “Our work has been in full swing ever since we cleared the toll gates that were falling in the alignment of the underpass. A gas pipeline is falling in the alignment and we have to work around it with extra care. We are targeting completion of construction by April 30. Once that is done, we’ll need some time for the finishing work and to restore the toll gates that we had shifted towards the Delhi side,” said an RK contractor official. “By May 15, commuters can expect to use the underpass that will decongest the expressway,” the official added.
The contractor said work came to a standstill for over a month due to delay in the shifting of three toll gates at the Sirhaul toll plaza.
Last month, TOI had reported that even after a year of repeated follow-ups with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), the civic body had failed to entertain NHAI’s request to shift the toll gates. It was only in January that SDMC submitted the cost estimates for the toll shifting.