If the district administration is to be believed, commuters in the city can look forward to some respite. Two underpasses at two of the city's most important crossroads — Rajiv Chowk and Signature Tower Chowk — could be opened to traffic by December 31 this year, three months ahead of their scheduled deadline of March 18, 2018.

Work on both the underpass has been advancing at a fast pace these days. There's already some relief for traffic at Rajiv Chowk, for commuters travelling from Medanta towards Delhi, with the underpass near Medanta Hospital being thrown open to commuters on August 14. However, on other stretches at both underpasses, traffic has been diverted as work is going on.

In spite of this, commuters' woes hasn't diminished. Often, they complain of facing huge jams. Deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh said, "By opening the underpass at Rajiv Chowk, people will be able to travel easily from Sohna road towards Civil Lines and Mini Secretariat. The opening of underpass at Signature Tower Chowk will ease commute between Maharana Pratap Chowk and Huda City Centre."

Work on the two underpasses was inaugurated by Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari in September 2016. Subsequently, Gadkari asked NHAI to complete the work in 15 months, even though the official deadline for the two projects is March 2018. Meanwhile, both projects faced land acquisition hurdles.

Nevertheless, NHAI feels they can complete both by December 31.

"Right now, dates of opening of the underpasses are not finalised. We still face land acquisition hurdles in both projects, where work is otherwise 90% complete. But we're trying our best so that both underpasses can be thrown open to public by December 31," said Ashok Sharma, project director, NHAI.

In the mean time, the district administration has decided to relieve commuters, by throwing open the ground-level crossings at both Rajiv Chowk and Signature Tower Chowk to public, as soon as they are ready.