The Barapullah Phase 3 flyover has opened with six lanes but quickly exposed a capacity gap at its connection with the older Phase 2 stretch. One lane serves Mayur Vihar and five lead towards South Delhi before merging into a three-lane carriageway and then a two-lane flyover. The arrangement forces traffic from multiple lanes into a narrower section within a short distance, creating a bottleneck between East Delhi and South Delhi.

The problem has been intensified by the project’s delayed delivery. Originally scheduled for completion in 2017, the flyover opened in 2026 after construction delays of nine years. During that period, vehicle ownership, travel patterns and links between East Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad and South Delhi changed substantially. The road network serving the project is therefore different from the one considered when its traffic requirements were assessed.

Urban practitioner Hitesh Vaidya, formerly associated with the National Institute of Urban Affairs, said flyovers often shift traffic between levels without reducing the total number of vehicles using a network. Prof P S N Rao, former director of Delhi’s School of Planning and Architecture, called for a detailed survey of traffic volumes and destinations, questioning whether surveys conducted more than 20 years ago remained adequate. He also argued that stronger public transport, including more Metro lines, would address the underlying dependence on roads more effectively than additional flyovers.

Delhi’s immediate response is operational. Officials told the Indian Express that Delhi Police was using barricades, traffic lights and personnel to manage the merge following a drone survey. An additional signal is also being used to prevent all lanes from entering the narrower section simultaneously, although these measures do not increase downstream capacity or establish a permanent redesign.

Examples from other cities show that congestion can sometimes be managed through operations and demand reduction rather than construction alone. A 2006 system near Birmingham using Hard Shoulder Running and Variable Mandatory Speed Limits reduced average travel time by more than 32 per cent, according to an assessment cited in the report. In Seoul, removing a six-lane highway in 2003 to restore the Cheonggyecheon River was followed by a reported decline of more than 45 per cent in vehicular traffic. Barapullah’s outcome will ultimately depend on whether the wider network moves traffic efficiently, rather than simply on the completion of the flyover.