New Delhi: Some relief is in store for thousands of commuters who take the narrow Kalindi Kunj Bridge on Yamuna to commute between Noida and Delhi and find themselves stuck in jams every morning. The Noida authority has finally given the green light to the construction of another bridge on the river parallel to the existing one.

Sources said the new fourlane bridge would be similar to Nizamuddin Bridge. The existing bridge will be used exclusively by the traffic heading towards Delhi while the new bridge will serve Noida-bound vehicles. The authority has started preparing a detailed project report for the new bridge. It will be constructed within 18 months from the date of awarding the work. The project would cost around Rs 300 crore.

Currently, Kalindi Kunj Bridge, also known as Okhla Barrage, is the only link between Noida and south Delhi. In recent years, traffic on this route has grown manifold and experts say the narrow road is no longer sufficient.

According a RITES report, the bridge was used by 52,760 passenger car units (PCUs) daily in 2001. The number rose to 61,435 in 2007. Experts say that commercial development on Mathura Road and in Faridabad has added to the traffic on this stretch in the last three years.

The existing bridge is also used by vehicles going to Gurgaon from Noida. Though updated traffic volume using this stretch is not known, traffic police estimate it to be 80,000 PCUs daily.

Regular commuters says congestion on this stretch is particularly bad at peak hours. ‘‘Sometimes it takes 40-45 minutes to cross this 5-km stretch and evenings are the worst. The broken road adds to the chaos. Besides construction of an additional bridge, authorities must repair the road,’’ said Sunil Nayak, a daily commutes to Delhi from Sector-82, Noida.

Noida authority officials said the two-lane bridge was built in 1980s. They said it has already breached its carrying capacity and hence construction of a parallel bridge is an urgent requirement.

However, planners point out that construction of a new bridge could also push more traffic to this stretch. In fact, this has been the experience in the case of Nizamuddin Bridge and DND flyway. The RITES study showed that while the daily traffic volume on Nizamuddin Bridge was only 1,19,407 PCUs in 2001, it rose to 1,57,187 PCUs in 2007. Similarly, the daily traffic flow on DND Flyway was found to be 97,096 PCUs in 2007 against just 17,161 in 2001.