NEW DELHI: The redevelopment of the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation's exhibition complex at Pragati Maidan will necessitate the decongestion of the Mathura Road-Bhairon Marg area. The area gets clogged whenever major events are being held at the trade fair ground. Plans now include providing direct access to the upcoming underground parking for visitors. 

These will be achieved through a series of underpasses and loops designed to render the stretch from Sundar Nagar to Supreme Court signal-free. 

"The conceptual plan is ready, and will be sent to UTTIPEC for clearance," said a senior official of PWD, which will undertake the project. Additional permissions will be required from the Archaeological Survey of India for a tunnel road that will lie close to the protected Purana Quila. The project will be monitored by the cabinet secretary. 

Work on ground is expected to start by the middle of this year. ITPO chairperson LC Goyal told TOI that the road redesign will take place alongside the redevelopment of the exhibition complex with the expectation that both will be completed simultaneously. 

In addition to roads directly related to Pragati Maidan, a tunnel to take traffic from Purana Quila Road to Outer Ring Road will be excavated under the fair ground. It may later be extended to Geeta Colony Road near the Vikas Marg loop, enabling central Delhi one more link with east Delhi. 

As per the road redesign plan, two parallel tunnels on Mathura Road, just after the Bhagwan Das Road crossing, will accommodate traffic approaching Pragati Maidan from opposite ends. One tunnel will also provide access to the underground parking for those coming from Purana Quila Road. 

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