Govind Tekale
Delhi’s much-awaited Barapullah Phase III elevated corridor opened this week — and within 48 hours it had made traffic worse, not better. If you commute through Sarai Kale Khan, Ring Road, or the Noida-DND stretch, here is what is actually happening and which part of the new road is creating the bottleneck.
What the Drone Survey Found
Delhi Traffic Police and the Public Works Department conducted a joint drone inspection of the corridor after severe gridlock followed the opening. Their key finding: structural design factors and heavier-than-anticipated traffic volumes are both contributing to the congestion.
Officials identified a sharp lane merger at the Sundial Park/Sarai Kale Khan junction as the primary chokepoint — where three lanes from the new corridor and three lanes from the Sundial Park loop converge into an existing two-lane stretch. Several traffic streams converge at this point, but the available lane capacity in the existing corridor is smaller than the combined feed from the new road. The result is a forced compression — multiple lanes of moving vehicles trying to fit into fewer lanes, all at once, in a short distance.
The Hindustan Times noted additional design issues further along the route, including abrupt merge geometry that forces last-second lane changes and causes vehicles to slow sharply or brake suddenly.
Why a New Road Can Create More Traffic, Not Less
This matters because the congestion is not just volume — it is physics. Traffic engineers call a specific version of this a “phantom jam”: a wave of braking that travels backward through a stream of vehicles even after the original trigger has passed. When a lane ending forces drivers to merge rapidly, each driver brakes slightly. The driver behind brakes harder. Within a few hundred metres, a road running at reasonable speed locks into a stop-start crawl that persists long after the original pinch point is clear.
The Barapullah Phase III design essentially feeds a wider road into a narrower one without adequate taper distance — the physical space cars need to weave smoothly rather than brake sharply. Highways designed for smooth traffic flow typically use long gradual merges so speed differences between lanes stay small. A short, steep merge multiplies small speed differences into full stops.
What This Means for Your Commute Right Now
Until the Delhi Traffic Police implements a permanent fix — whether through temporary signal management at the Sundial merge or physical lane realignment — the congestion is likely to recur at peak hours. Temporary traffic control measures are under discussion.
If you currently use the Sarai Kale Khan–DND stretch in morning or evening peak hours, the Ring Road via Ashram or the NH-9 via Akshardham may be worth considering as possible alternatives while the merge point remains unresolved. Check current traffic conditions before committing to either route.
What Comes Next
The drone survey results have been passed to the PWD for review. Authorities are examining both short-term signal-timing changes and longer-term geometry adjustments at the Sundial junction. The New Indian Express reported that officials have identified the merge geometry as a key design element under review.
This story began as an infrastructure-delay narrative. It is now a documented design question, which means the fix — if announced — will be a measurable, specific change. Check back for updates when the PWD responds.
