A brand new toll road in India is struggling to get on its feet, as long delays have made some trips on the expressway longer than on the old roads.
"Tollroads are much in the news in India - good news and bad news. The big bad news story is the first chaotic week of the new mostly 8-lane toll expressway southwest out of Delhi to Gurgaon, a developing edge city not far from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. 28km (17mi) long, the tollroad also becomes part of National Highway 8 between Delhi and Mumbai, formerly Bombay. Traffic volumes are already 150k/day in the corridor so the new road was built to four lanes each direction for most of its length."
"The road, formally the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, abbreviated to Gurgaon Expressway is billed as India's first truly urban tollroad. One of the toll plazas at Km24 with 32 toll lanes is the largest in the country."
"The new road is a mix of upgraded surface arterial and new construction with a substantial elevated section, and new service roads in places. Construction cost was $250m (Rs1,000 crore, a crore being 10m, the Rupee Rs40=$). At purchasing power parity it would be several times."
"The promise of the expressway was that the journey from Delhi to Gurgaon would be reduced to a reliable 20 minutes compared to the 50 to 70 minutes drive over surface arterials."
"But news stories turned sour within a day as the mainline toll plaza at Km24 couldn't cope with the traffic and regularly developed backups described as 'several kilometers long'. Just the trip through the toll plaza in peak hours is said to be regularly 20 to 30 minutes. One reporter said stingingly it was the first expressway to be slower than the regular road."
Read the full story: India - tollroads in the news for toll plaza gridlock and grand plans
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Philadelphia to invest $2 billion into upgrading city airports as PHL places last in customer satisfaction
Modernizations to Philadelphia's airports will include baggage system upgrades and a new automated parking garage guidance system.
The LA housing policies making developers turn away from the city
Despite LA’s housing shortage, developers say the city’s "mansion-tax" and pandemic-era policies make it an unappealing place to build housing.
New density bill would require 7 California cities to establish regional transit hubs
The bill would also require major cities in California to permit high-rise residential buildings.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello