PM launches twin expressways to ensure cleaner, greener Delhi
NEW DELHI: Giving a major push to road infrastructure in Delhi and its neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated two newly built expressways – Phase 1 of the Delhi-meerut Expressway (DME) and the Rs 11,000-crore Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), India's first smart and green highway. The move is also expected to cut down the population by one-fourth in and around the national Capital.
In the morning, after inaugurating the 14-lane Delhi-meerut Expressway spanning Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to UP Gate, the Prime Minister held a road show on the stretch of the DME before inaugurating the expressway. The road show commenced from Nizamuddin Bridge in the Capital, the start of the approximately 9-km first leg of the Delhi-meerut Expressway, and after a 6-km travel on the stretch Road Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari too rode with him. The Prime Minister then went to Baghpat where he dedicated the Eastern Peripheral Expressway.
Modi, in his adress, said that apart from the Rs 5 lakh crore provision for Bharatmala for highways, a provision of Rs 14 lakh crore was made in the budget to strengthen agriculture related infrastructure. The Delhimeerut Expressway, stretching from Nizammudin Bridge to the Delhi-up border, has been completed in a record time of 18 months. The expressway, which will do away with 31 traffic signals currently on the Delhi-meerut road, has been described by Modi as "road to freedom from pollution". The 9-km stretch from Delhi's Sarai Kale Khan to UP Gate would help reduce congestion on roads leading to Noida and Ghaziabad. The total length of the project is 82 km, of which the first 27.74 km will be 14 lanes and the rest a 6-lane expressway. The highway is the first national highway in the country with 14 lanes.
The project of Peripheral Expressways around Delhi comprises the Western Peripheral Expressway (WPE) or KMP (Kundli-manesar-palwal) and Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) or Kgp(kundli-ghaziabad-palwal. The alignment of the EPE starts near Kundli NH-1, traverses to cross the river Yamuna, crosses SH-57 Mawikalan, NH-58 near Duhai, NH-24 near Dasna, NH-91 near Beel Akbarpur, KasnaSikandra road near Sirsa, river Yamuna again at village Faizupur Khadar (Haryana), Atali-chainsa Road (near village Maujpur) and ends at Palwal on NH-2 to join Western PE. A total of 1,700 hectares of land has been acquired for the EPE at a cost of about Rs 5,900 crore. The construction cost of the project is about Rs 4,617.87 crore. The Expressway has four major bridges, 46 minor bridges, three flyovers, seven inter-changes, 221 underpasses, eight ROBS, and 114 culverts.
The EPE has a closed tolling system in which toll will be collected only for the distance travelled and not for the entire length. Toll plazas will be equipped with Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) systems for faster collection and uninterrupted travel experience. Weigh-in-motion (WIMS) equipment have been installed at all 30 entry points of the Expressway to stop the entry of overloaded vehicles. The EPE has an iconic toll plaza 170 feet high, with 154 feet wing on either side. It will house the ITS control system of the entire EPE.
This is the first Expressway in the country to use solar power on the entire length of 135 km besides rain water harvesting at every 500 metres' distance and drip irrigation for plants. There are eight solar power plants on this Expressway, with a capacity of 4,000 KW (4 megawatt) for lighting of the underpasses and running solar pumps for watering plants.
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NEW DELHI: With the opening of the nine-km stretch of the Delhi-meerut expressway, commuters of Delhi-ncr will heave a sigh of relief. From getting stranded in jams at various junctions, commuters can now take hassle-free rides.
Once completed, it is expected to cut travel time between Delhi and Meerut to 60 minutes from four-to-five-hour now.
The whole project is going to provide a major relief to commuters on the Delhinoida-ghaziabad section as they will get a seamless drive on the whole carriageway. For now, only first part of the carriageway was thrown open on Sunday.
It became the first national highway in the country with 14 lanes, besides other features.
The commuters of these three cities were having a harrowing time at traffic signals and cuts falling in Delhi, Ghaziabad and Noida. Commuters going towards Ghaziabad from Delhi always got stuck at entry points like Sarai Kale Khan, Mayur Vihar, Akshardham and Patparganj/ghazipur in Delhi while in Ghaziabad they faced traffic snarls mainly at UP border, Indirapuram and Khoda redl ight.
“It was taking 60 to 75 minutes between Sarai Kale Khan and Indirapuram via UP border, Sector-62 red light and CISF camp but now it has been reduced to 10-15 minutes. Widening of both sides of the road and scrapping of red lights have not ensured a seamless movement of vehicles but have heightened the traffic nightmare. The first phase has not witnessed uninterested vehicular movement on that particular patch but its effect is very much visible on the entire road,” said Abhinav Khandelwal, a daily commuter between Delhi and Ghaziabad.
“I used to travel daily between central Noida to Anand Vihar via Sector-62, Khoda and Ghaziapur and it was taking more than an hour in non-peak hours. Now, when one stretch becomes operational, travel time has cut by 50 per cent. I expect it to cut by 25 per cent or even more once the entire stretch gets operational in March next year, said another commuter Rishabh Manchanda.
It is pertinent to mention that the project entails construction of 11 flyovers/ interchanges, five major and 24 minor bridges, three ROBS (rail over bridges), 36 vehicular and 14 pedestrian underpasses. It will also have an elevated section of 5.91 km.
The entire project has been divided into four phases. A cycle track of 2.5 meters wide has also been constructed on both the sides of this expressway which also has the provision of 1.5-metre footpath on each side for pedestrians.