A+ A- New Delhi: The Delhi government would redesign nine PWD roads as per the international standards, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced here on Tuesday. The redesigning would help combat problems of traffic congestion, he said and added, Delhi was the national capital and should look like that. The nine road stretches to be redesigned are: Wazirpur Depot to Rithala Metro Station; Britania Chowk to Outer Ring Road West Enclave Pitampura; Shivdhapuri Marg and Patel Road; Vikas Marg, Lakshmi Nagar to Kadkadi mode; Nirman Road Mother Dairy to Panchmahal; Ring Road, Mayapuri to Motibagh Junction; Ring Road, AIIMS to Ashram; Ambedkar Nagar to Defence Colony Flyover; and Outer Road, Nigam Bodhi Ghat to Magazine Road Crossing. “All the nine road stretches covering 45 km will be redesigned on a pilot basis. Work orders for one road have been given on Tuesday, and for two roads it will be given on Wednesday. The work orders for the remaining roads will be given in November,” the Chief Minister said. “We hope to improve the condition of roads and tackle the problem of traffic congestion by redesigning the roads within a year,” he told media. The Chief Minister said if the pilot project of redesigning these nine stretches was successful, all roads under the jurisdiction of the Public Works Department (PWD) would be redesigned along the same lines. Pointing to traffic congestion at several road bottlenecks, he said, the wide roads would turn into a narrow lane after a few miles and then back to a wide road after a few miles. “Our priority is to remove those bottlenecks first and ensure smooth flow of traffic and organised lane system. The second priority is to raise the efficiency of roads to their best use as per their abilities,” Kejriwal said. He said no proper planning or mapping was involved in construction of roads. “There will be measured and planned spaces for vehicles, non-motorised vehicles, footpath and side-lanes. The footpath will be widely mapped to an average of 10 feet. These footpath will also be redesigned and reconstructed for the convenience of physically handicapped,” said the Chief Minister. He also announced development of rainwater harvesting system in drains and marked space for tree plantation on roads. “There will be separate spaces for planting of trees on the sides of footpath and separate parking spaces for e-vehicles and auto-rickshaws along the footpath. The slope of roads, as well as drains, will be redesigned to tackle the problem of water-logging on roads. Rainwater harvesting structures will be built inside the drainage systems to store rainwater as groundwater,” Kejriwal said. The Chief Minister said roads would have street furniture installed on the sides, and the road junction would be redesigned. “Not even an inch of the surface of road or roadside will be left uncovered, to prevent accumulation of dust. Adequate grasses and shrubs will be planted on all surfaces to ensure dust control,” said Kejriwal. He said all the uneven roads would be resurfaced and pot holes removed. To be completed within one year, total cost of the project would be Rs 400 crore, he said.

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