New Flyway, Fresh Gridlock: Barapullah Phase-III Traffic Leaves Delhi Commuters Stuck

Traffic snarls returned on Barapullah Phase-III and connecting Delhi roads on Monday after a brief three-day holiday respite, with congestion spreading across the existing Barapullah corridor, Ring Road, Delhi-Noida Link Road and the DND corridor.

As Hindustan Times reported, many commuters also took to social media to complain about the gridlock and draw the attention of the traffic police and the government.

Hundreds of motorists and commuters faced long delays through the morning as vehicles piled up on the newly opened stretch and its approach roads. The Delhi Traffic Police said personnel had been deployed to regulate traffic flow, but congestion continued.

The pressure returned after a brief break during the holidays, again raising questions over how traffic is being channelled from the new Phase-III link into older stretches that narrow into fewer lanes.

Commuters Describe Gridlock

Commuters described near standstill traffic. Several motorists posted on X that the newly opened flyway had choked, with jams spilling onto the Noida-Delhi Link Road and other alternative routes. Traffic also moved slowly on Ring Road between Ashram and Sarai Kale Khan, creating bottlenecks that spread farther onto adjoining roads.

Some users also complained that traffic personnel were missing from key stretches. One commuter posted on X, “The traffic jam at Barapullah is getting completely out of hand, and @dtptraffic isn't able to manage it. Traffic from 15 lanes has been merged into just three lanes—what could be more chaotic than this? The corridor, which was touted as a boon to reach AIIMS in 15 minutes, is now in such a state that vehicles and passengers are stuck groaning in hours-long jams. @gupta_rekha,” as reported by Hindustan Times.

Another commuter posted, “The flyover is already completely choked - interestingly Google shows that the path is all clear and the traffic is bumper-to-bumper: stuck here on the newly inaugurated link for over 30 minutes and it seems no one has any clue what they are constructing!.”

A third commuter posted, “@dtptraffic Barapullah Phase III is completely blocked. The traffic has been at a standstill for an hour now. Why isn’t there a traffic policeman manning this particular stretch? Even ambulances are stuck.”

Police Explain Bottleneck

Police pointed to a lane squeeze. Delhi Traffic Police have been using social media to alert commuters to the problem. They informed users that multi-lane traffic is merging into three lanes on Ring Road and the old Barapullah corridor, while congestion on the newly opened corridor is still not showing up properly on Google Maps.

Delhi Traffic Police stated that the main reason is a structural bottleneck at the old Barapullah flyover. Their width analysis shows the old Barapullah flyover, covering Phase I and II, is three lanes wide. The newly opened Barapullah Phase-III flyover from the Mayur Vihar side is also about three lanes wide. The Sarai Kale Khan loop and the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) loop are also three lanes each.

“Thus, traffic of approximately 8-9 lanes converges into 3 lanes at a single point on the old Barapulah flyover. Moreover, Google has yet to update the live flow of traffic and is showing the newly opened corridor green at all times. We have deployed traffic personnel for merging and regulating the traffic,” a traffic police officer told Hindustan Times.

New Corridor Pressure

The new stretch is drawing heavy volumes. Officials explained that the newly opened Barapullah section links Mayur Vihar with the existing elevated corridor. It has pulled in substantial traffic that would otherwise have used NH-24 and the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) flyway.

That traffic, however, is not dispersing smoothly. Instead, it is being funnelled into choke points where several streams of vehicles abruptly narrow into fewer lanes, adding to delays across the wider road network.