Chandigarh-Zirakpur highway: Work on underpass, election rallies add to motorists' woes

Tribune News Service

Zirakpur, February 16

Motorists on the Chandigarh-Zirakpur highway are stuck for long traffic jams on a daily basis due to the under-construction underpass near the Chandigarh border. Office-goers and residents have to bear the brunt of the crawling pace of traffic on this 2-km stretch. As if the long queues of vehicles and the dilapidated narrowed down road were not enough, poll rallies in the Dera Bassi Assembly segment have made it worse. As of now, road users are left with no option but to endure this ordeal for a long time.

The Public Works Department (PWD) started the construction of a vehicular underpass to decongest traffic on the Zirkapur-Chandigarh road near the Pabhat village intersection in November 2021.

“It has been only two and a half months; I can’t imagine having to bear this traffic, dust and potholes for one more year. Everyday, two to three hours are wasted on commuting on this stretch, said Sunny Sachdeva, a PGI employee and resident of VIP Road.

Residents say the PWD should speed up the pace of construction of the underpass. Officials said close to 30 per cent work had been done. The official time period to complete the work is around nine months.

“They could have explored widening of the road where there is space. Why are they not bothered about potholes and the damaged road. At least, it will clear the traffic on this stretch a little bit faster,” said Brinda Khurrana, a Sector 44 resident and government schoolteacher posted in Dera Bassi.

Road users said frequent election rallies and cavalcade choked the already narrow road, bringing it to a near halt during the daytime.

“Patients travelling from the periphery to Chandigarh hospitals are the worst sufferers. To get stuck in a traffic like this during an emergency situation is a nightmarish experience. Perhaps nobody gave a thought to it,” said Navtej Saini, a Baltana resident and AYUSH health worker in Sector 26.

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