The Delhi Public Works Department has started a GPS-enabled physical survey for a proposed link road connecting Press Enclave Marg with the Outer Ring Road in Sheikh Sarai, a project intended to reduce traffic pressure on one of South Delhi’s congested routes.
According to a report by Live Hindustan – NCR, the survey is being conducted using Total Station equipment, which combines optical tools and satellite mapping to collect technical information before construction begins. The survey will cover around 100,000 square metres and is expected to establish the ground conditions needed for planning the road.
PWD officials told the report that the exercise will map existing roads, buildings, drainage and sewerage lines, water pipelines, electricity and telephone lines, road levels, roundabouts, trees and other permanent and temporary features. Metro and railway assets in the area will also be examined, with their precise coordinates and levels recorded for use in planning the proposed alignment.
The final alignment, length, construction cost and completion timeline will be decided only after the survey is completed, officials said. This means the current exercise is a technical planning stage rather than confirmation of a construction schedule.
The proposal has been pending for years. The governing body of Delhi’s Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre, or UTTIPEC, granted it in-principle approval in November 2008. In 2012, UTTIPEC directed that the project be implemented and that encroachments on the required land be removed before the land was handed over to the agencies responsible for the road.
The project remained stalled for several years. The Delhi government told the Delhi High Court in 2024 that a revised proposal had received in-principle approval. The Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System had indicated that the road could be developed alongside a proposed bus rapid transit corridor between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand. That work, however, remained suspended and was eventually stopped, according to the report.
The proposed link road is connected to the wider traffic burden on Press Enclave Marg. The existing 3.7-kilometre road links Sri Aurobindo Marg with Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg and has two lanes. Shopping malls, hospitals, large commercial and public institutions, and the Saket district court are located along or near the corridor, generating regular traffic during peak periods.
A PWD survey conducted last year recorded approximately 9,000 passenger car units during the morning peak hour and 10,000 passenger car units during the evening peak hour on Press Enclave Marg. These figures measure traffic in passenger-car-equivalent units, allowing different vehicle types to be assessed against the road space they use.
The current survey will determine whether the proposed connection can be aligned around existing utilities, transport assets, buildings and other physical constraints. The next formal milestones are the completion of the survey and the preparation of the project’s final alignment, cost estimate and implementation timeline.
