LUCKNOW, Sept. 6 -- Commuters in Lucknow are likely to heave a sigh of relief soon as work has officially begun on a series of long-awaited underpasses aimed at tackling the city's chronic traffic congestion. The Indian Railways, in collaboration with the UP State Bridge Corporation and the Public Works Department (PWD), has initiated construction of underpasses at five major choke points - Lohia crossing, Nirala Nagar, Ahimamau crossing, Mithaiwala crossing (low height subway) and Khadri near Bakshi Ka Talab. Once operational, these infrastructure projects are expected to ease bottlenecks for lakhs of daily commuters, streamlining traffic flow across key junctions and reducing reliance on existing overburdened overbridges. Among the most impactful projects is the underpass at Lohia crossing, which will be 200 metres long and is estimated to cost Rs 57.33 crore. Commuters using Lohia Path, particularly those coming from Patrakarpuram and Manoj Pandey Crossing will see direct benefits. Currently, these commuters rely on a rail over bridge (RoB) that lands near Picup crossing and one at high court crossing. At Ahimamau crossing, a massive 1-km underpass is on the cards, with a proposed cost of Rs 575.16 crore-making it the most ambitious of the current batch of projects. Once completed, it will dramatically improve east-west connectivity on the city's southern periphery and ease movement along the busy Sultanpur road corridor. The Nirala Nagar railway crossing, a known bottleneck for those commuting between IT crossing, Aliganj and Chandganj Garden, is also set to be decongested. While the project's budget is yet to be finalised, the proposal has gained traction following consistent efforts by Lucknow North MLA Neeraj Bora. He had written to defence minister Rajnath Singh, chief minister Yogi Adityanath, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, North Eastern Railway DRM Gaurav Agarwal and others in this regard. On Thursday, the DRM officially confirmed that the process for constructing the underpass has begun. The Mithaiwala crossing low height subway will be 350 metres long and constructed at a cost of Rs 66.50 crore. This project is proposed by Lucknow Central MLA OP Srivastava and Rajnath Singh pushing for its execution. Currently, the absence of a direct underpass forces residents to take lengthy detours, often leading to congestion on the Lohia Path RoB. On the northern outskirts of the city, a new underpass is planned near Khadri, which will significantly benefit people to the new Lucknow University campus in Jankipuram. Though the budget is yet to be finalised, the project has been approved in principle. An official of UP PWD said these underpasses signal a serious push by authorities to resolve Lucknow's long-standing traffic woes. While timelines for completion are still under wraps, the initiative marks a significant step towards modernising infrastructure in the city....