Design of 16.85km elevated section of Delhi-Dehradun highway approved

GHAZIABAD: Nearly 50% of the 32-kilometre section — part of the newly under-construction (180km) National Highway (NH) 709B, which connects Delhi to Uttarakhand’s Dehradun — will now be constructed as an elevated section.

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials said on Friday that they have approved designs of the elevated portion of the 16.85km highway section which falls under the jurisdiction of Uttar Pradesh.

The 32km stretch from Akshardham in Delhi to Eastern

Peripheral Expressway in UP’s Baghpat, is divided into two sections — 15km from Akshardham to UP border (₹1,264 crore) and 16.85km from UP border to Baghpat (₹1,654 crore).

“We have approved the designs and specifications of the elevated section. Of the 32km section of the highway, we will develop 50% of the stretch as an elevated section,” said Mudit Garg, project director, NHAI.

“It will be a dedicated freight corridor, and only limited vehicles will be allowed. This elevated section will be in the form of an elevated road constructed on single pillars,” Garg added.

“Similarly, the elevated section has been proposed for the first section which falls under the jurisdiction of Delhi. It was proposed due to constraints in procuring land and the cost. Almost a similar elevated section will be developed under the jurisdiction of Delhi as areas like Shastri Park, Khajoori Pushta, and others have dense populations and the land availability is also an issue,” Garg added.

The 32km section of the highway is proposed to be developed as a surface road, along with six lanes of elevated sections that makes it about 10-12 lanes.

Rest of the 150km section from Baghpat to Dehradun was proposed to be developed as the

Greenfield Expressway, with six lanes.

Officials said that the work on the 16.85km section in UP started on May 11 this year, while the tenders were finalised for the work on the 15km section in Delhi. The NH 709B is proposed as a new highway and an alternate route, which connects Delhi, UP and Uttarakhand is likely to shorten the travelling distance for commuters by about 70km. As of now, commuters travelling from Delhi to Dehradun take an old route that is about 250km — through Ghaziabad (Delhi-Meerut Road), Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Roorkee and Haridwar.