[sustran] BRT Part II to come up in E Delhi

[Vinay Baindur]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/7715071.cms

BRT Part II to come up in E DelhiRumu Banerjee, TNN | Mar 16, 2011, 04.52am
IST
NEW DELHI: Even as the Moolchand-Delhi Gate
stretch<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Moolchand-Delhi%20Gate%20stretch>
of
the Ambedkar Nagar-Delhi Gate Bus Rapid
Transit<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Bus%20Rapid%20Transit>
(BRT)
corridor awaits commissioning, the transport department is preparing to
launch the second edition of BRT. This time, the corridor stretches from
Shastri Park to Karawal Nagar, both in east Delhi, and will be a mix of the
centre and left-aligned bus lanes.
Said a senior transport official, "It's a site-specific plan where we will
disturb existing lanes as little as possible."
The 15-km corridor — earlier it was supposed to be 9km — has been broken
into two parts, much like the existing BRT corridor. One part is from
Karawal Nagar to Gandhinagar while the second one covers Bhajanpura and Mori
Gate connecting with Shastri Park. Interestingly, the bus lane in both parts
is different, with the lane being in the centre on one stretch and along one
side of the carriageway on the other. Said an official, "Along the Yamuna
Pushta, the lane will be on one side where we are trying not to touch the
existing road space." Instead, road space is being carved out from the
embankment, where the bus lane will come up along the left side of the road.
Meanwhile, the two arms, from Bhajanpura to the main road, and from Shastri
Park to Mori Gate, will have bus lanes running in the middle of the road.
According to officials, the plan has been designed in consultation with the
traffic police. The detailed project report (DPR) needs the clearance of
Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering)
Centre before it's sent to the cabinet for approval. And though the BRT
project has been sent to the expenditure finance committee for approval,
sources said funding for the project has been an issue for some time now.
Incidentally, unlike the earlier corridor, the transport department will be
handing over the construction of the corridor to the public works department
this time.

Management of the corridor, however, will remain with the
Delhi<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Delhi> Integrated
Multi-modal Transit System (DIMTS), which has also made the initial DPR for
the second corridor.
The plans for the corridor also include closed bus stations, located on the
central platform of the two-lane corridor. The bus corridor will be
integrated with the Delhi Metro at Kashmere Gate ISBT and Shastri Park to
provide seamless travel, added officials.
The government plans to build 15 corridors in the city, with feasibility
studies being commissioned for seven of these. The Karawal Nagar-Shastri
Park corridor will be the second BRT corridor to come up after the first one
came up in 2008.