The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is likely to make operational the first phase of access-controlled Delhi-Dehradun Expressway from Delhi’s Akshardham to Khekra Baghpat by the end of June. the expressway will pass via Geeta colony-Shastri park- Khajuri in Delhi, Trans Delhi Signature City- Mandola Vihar in Ghaziabad and Khekra in Bagpat.
Originally slated for completion by December 2023 while the revise date of completion was March 2024, the project faced delays due to pollution-related restrictions of GRAP system in Delhi. 36.60 km long phase 1 of the project is 90-95% complete, including carriageways and infrastructure and work is on to set signage, expansion joints and other infrastructure in place.
Phase 1 includes an elevated section of about 18km, with 6km in Delhi (Geeta Colony to Khajuri Khas), and the remaining 12km (Police Chowki near Tronica City to Khekra/Mavi village) in Uttar Pradesh. NHAI is gearing up for the opening. It is designed for a speed limit of 100 kmph for light vehicles. It will reduce commuting time between Delhi and Baghpat from 2 hours to just 20 minutes. The estimated cost of the first phase from Akshardham to Baghpat is Rs 3,200 crore.
At present, commuters travelling to Dehradun from Delhi take a route which is about 250km in length, navigating through congested stretches of Ghaziabad, Meerut, Muzffarnagar, Roorkee, and Haridwar.
This expressway has several special provisions to help in the movement of wildlife, which include six animal underpasses. The expressway will give a major boost to the economic development along the Delhi-Dehradun-Saharanpur corridor and will boost tourism activities in Uttarakhand.
However, a proposal floated by the Ghaziabad development authority to link the Northern Peripheral Road to connect NH-9 to the Delhi-Dehradun expressway at Loni near Trans Delhi Signature City (Tronica City). This 20 km long NPR highway will start from Hapur road via Meerut road- Hindon- Bhopura- Loni. The estimated cost of this highway is Rs 260 crore, The work on the project was to start from September 2023, which has not started yet.
