Zirakpur underpass mess: Two alternatives, but little respite

Gaurav Kanthwal

Zirakpur, September 26

With the travel time from Tribune Chowk to Patiala light point in Zirakpur unlikely to come down from current 55 minutes to 30 minutes any time soon owing to the ongoing work on the underpass, road users are exploring alternative routes to save time and avoid inconvenience.

There are two designated alternative routes to avoid the bottleneck — one via Panchkula and the other from Mohali, but the travel time remains more or less the same.

While the Hallo Majra-Panchkula-Zirakpur road is shorter but bumpy and congested, the Airport Road detour is considerably longer for road users from the Chandigarh side. It takes almost 55 minutes from Tribune Chowk to Patiala light point in Zirakpur, an 8-km stretch, during the morning and evening rush hours.

The Tribune Chowk-Hallo Majra light point-Industrial Area, Panchkula-Patiala Chowk detour is 13.6 km long. The narrow road and vehicular rush make it a 50-minute ride.

While the longer 23-km Tribune Chowk-IISER-Airport light point-Patiala Chowk detour is a comfortable commute with a wide road and fast-moving traffic, frequent stoppages due to light points make it a 50-minute commute.

“The Tribune Chowk-Hallo Majra light point route suits commuters from the Chandigarh side, while the Airport Road is a good alternative for road users from the Mohali side. It depends on individual choice, but I do not think it makes a difference of more than 5-10 minutes,” said Ajay Bhatnagar, a supply chain professional from VIP Road.

Zirakpur resident Puneet Sharma said: “It will take one year for the PWD officials to construct the 500-metre vehicular underpass. You can well imagine the pace at which the work is going on.”

Traffic officials, too, express helplessness, saying they can only streamline traffic but it will only save five to 10 minutes. Potholes need to be filled, service lanes cleared and construction work speeded up, they say.