Chandigarh, June 18 -- As a solution to the clash between the proposed Metro corridor and a flyover plan on the PGIMER-Sarangpur stretch, the Chandigarh engineering department has suggested a double-decker structure - with one level for the Metro track and another for vehicular traffic. The proposal was discussed in a review meeting on Tuesday, chaired by UT chief engineer CB Ojha, where officials from Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) were urged to consider the dual-layer road design for the area, which has been identified by the UT Road Safety Committee as a major bottleneck. In its latest report, shared in April, the Road Safety Committee had stated that traffic jams, lack of footpaths (forcing pedestrians onto roads), roadside parking, encroachments by shops, waterlogging during monsoon, U-turns at junctions and autos halting mid-road to pick up passengers had collectively turned the stretch into a critical chokepoint. According to initial plans prepared by the UT engineering department, the flyover was to be constructed at a cost of around Rs.90 crore, running 1.75 km in length, with a 1.3-km elevated stretch. At the Tuesday meeting, Ojha also directed RITES to incorporate observations from the scenario report on the Metro project, which was submitted last month. RITES was asked to expedite its work and submit the final report. In its scenario report, RITES stated that the Metro project was financially viable for the tricity, though it may take at least a decade for the system to achieve profitability. The report drew comparisons with Metro systems in Ahmedabad, Kochi, Jaipur and Noida, noting that such projects were typically evaluated over a 30-year operational horizon. Using the Ahmedabad Metro as a case study, the report pointed out that recovering capital investment may take at least five years, and highlighted unforeseen disruptions like the Covid-19 pandemic that delayed business recovery after its launch in 2019....