Noida to widen e-way stretch to ease snarls near Film City

Noida: Noida Authority is widening a 250-metre stretch of the expressway between the Chilla border and Mahamaya Flyover to ease traffic movement near the DND Flyway loop. Officials said an additional lane will be created by merging the left sidewalk with the DND Flyway Loop till Film City over the next three months at a cost of Rs 70 lakh.
Vijay Rawal, deputy general manager of Noida Authority, said traffic becomes unmanageable at this spot during the evenings."So, Noida has hired a private agency to widen the expressway stretch. As per the plan, about two metres of the left sidewalk from the DND Flyway Loop to the Film City Flyover will be removed to create an additional traffic lane. This modification is expected to alleviate congestion in the stretch," he said.
The official said work on the traffic started Sunday and was unlikely to hinder vehicular movement even on weekdays as there was no restrictions or diversion on the other lanes.
At least 17 trees on the sidewalk are to be felled for the project. Currently, the Noida expressway has six lanes—three on each carriageway. Every evening, the stretch near the DND loop is knotted with snarls as a high volume of traffic entering Noida from the eight-lane DND descends into two lanes of the loop that merge into the expressway.
Vehicles coming into the city through the Chilla border add to tailbacks near the loop.
Commuters claim congestion on the expressway has a ripple effect on the exits near Film City and Sector 18.
Aryan Kumar, who travels daily from Mayur Vihar to Knowledge Park, spends nearly half an hour negotiating the stretch.
"It is like a sea of red. Every evening traffic from several busy routes, including ITO, Akshardham, and Mayur Vihar converge at this point, leaving vehicles to crawl," he said.
According to estimates, the DND Flyway handles nearly 300,000 vehicles daily, while the Chilla border and Kalindi Kunj each manage around 1 lakh vehicles. All these vehicles converge on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, which accommodates nearly 5 lakh vehicles per day.
Delay in construction of the 5.5km Chilla Elevated Road that intends to connect Mayur Vihar with the Mahamaya Flyover makes the road widening project a key. While work on the elevated road started on Jan 25, 2019, it was stalled in March 2020 over funding stalemate. It may finally resume as the UP cabinet in June approved a revised budget of Rs 788 crore.