Gurugram: The IFFCO Chowk underpass, an unidirectional L-shaped structure meant for commuters travelling from the HUDA City Centre to Sikanderpur on MG Road, opened on Sunday.
The underpass was opened without any fanfare due to the impending Lok Sabha elections. Work on the underpass — which was stuck for one-and-a-half years — resumed last month soon after a sole petrol pump, which fell in the structure's alignment, was removed on February 5.
The fuel station was removed after the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran, on the direction of the Supreme Court, allotted an alternative site to the owner on January 28 this year. Ashok Sharma, NHAI project director, said construction work on the underpass on the Delhi-Gurugram expressway, from Sukhrali (Old Gurugram) to MG road, has been completed.
"We completed the civil work a week ago, and the finishing touches will be over by Saturday evening. Hence, the expressway will be opened without any delay," Sharma said. The Rs 285 crore underpass project, finalised by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government, was awarded to Gawar Construction in September 2016.
According to officials, the underpass was conceptualised in 2016 as part of traffic improvement work at three major junctions. The underpass was part of an Rs 1,000-crore NHAI project. Iffco Chowk one of the busiest intersections in Gurugram with the volume of traffic reaching up to 40 lakh a day.
The Mall Mile is among the most congested spots in the city, especially near Iffco Chowk which is the unofficial interstate stop for buses heading towards Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab. There are also a large number of offices, malls, condominiums and a Metro station here.
It is also the point where two of the busiest road-networks, Delhi-Gurugram Expressway and Mehrauli-Gurgaon (MG) Road merge, leading to the junction being heavily congested for most of the day.