PWD to complete redesigning sample stretches on 'European standards' by Sept: Officials

Officials said on the lines of these sample stretches, 500-km of PWD roads will be beautified on European standards.Once the pilot stretches are fully redeveloped, the government will then decide which model to adopt for execution of road redesigning and beautification project, a PWD official said.A PWD official said nearly 70 per cent work on the pilot stretches have been completed and the remaining is likely to be wrapped up by the end of September.The work is going on in full swing and hopefully it is likely to get completed by September end.

The Public Works Department is likely to complete the redesigning and beautification of sample stretches on ''European standards'' by September end, officials said on Thursday. The Delhi government aims to ''redesign and beautify'' 500-km city roads on the lines of streets in European countries. The government approved the beautification of 16 sample stretches in November 2019. Officials said on the lines of these sample stretches, 500-km of PWD roads will be beautified on ''European standards''.

Once the pilot stretches are fully redeveloped, the government will then decide which model to adopt for the execution of the road redesigning and beautification project, a PWD official said.

A PWD official said nearly 70 percent of work on the pilot stretches has been completed and the remaining is likely to be wrapped up by the end of September.

''The work is going on in full swing and hopefully, it is likely to get completed by September end. After the streetscaping work on the sample stretches is completed, the government will then review all these pilot stretches. ''After thoroughly reviewing these sample stretches, the government will choose one pilot model which will be replicated in the beautification of all 500-km PWD roads,'' the official told PTI.

Some of the 16 pilot stretches include Ring Road from Mayapuri to Moti Bagh Junction, Ring Road from AIIMS to Ashram, Vikas Marg-Laxmi Nagar Chungi to Karkari More, Narwana Road-Mother Dairy to Punch Mahal Niwas, Britannia Chowk to Outer Ring Road, West Enclave in Pitampura and Wazirpur Depot Crossing (NSP) to Rithala Metro Station.

They also include Shivdaspuri Marg and Patel Road (from Moti Nagar T-point to Pusa Road roundabout), Nelson Mandela Marg, 810-meter portion of Aurobindo Marg, 600 meter stretch of Lodhi Road, 800 meter part of Jagatputi-Karkardooma road, part of Rohtak Road (NH-10) near Tikri Border among others. The official further said these redeveloped roads will have commuter and pedestrian-friendly amenities such as wide footpaths, cycle tracks, and ramps.

He said redesigning roads will eliminate bottlenecks and improve aesthetics as encroachments will also be removed from these stretches.

Under the project, roads will be strengthened, recarpeted, and beautified by enhancing their aesthetics and greenery and introducing facilities like parking, kiosks, benches, decorative lights, and water ATMs on the roadside.

The official said different types of decorative plants such as topiary group saplings, plants of Bismarckian Nobilis, Roystonea Regia, and palm family saplings will be planted on the central verge and the roadside to make streets visually appealing.

Last month, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inspected one such model stretch in Pitampura in west Delhi and instructed officials to complete these sample stretches by September-October.

He had also expressed his ''unhappiness'' over horticulture works done on the stretch and had asked them to increase greenery and plant taller and denser saplings along the stretch.