The 82-km-long Delhi- Meerut Expressway, which is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities from nearly four hours to one hour, will be ready by March 2019, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday.
Cycle track
This will be the first expressway with a dedicated cycle track on either side of the highway. A third of the entire length of the expressway, which is the stretch between Delhi and Dasna [UP], will have 14 lanes, including service roads.
The rest of the highway will have six lanes.
On May 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the first section of this expressway, which is eight-km-long and stretches from Nizamuddin Bridge in Delhi to UP border.
“The first package has been completed in 18 months instead of 30 months. It will be opened for public in March next year,” Mr. Gadkari said.
The first part of the expressway was completed at a cost of ₹841.5 crore. The entire project costs ₹4,975 crore. It involves the construction of 11 flyovers, 29 bridges, three rail over bridges, 36 vehicular and 14 pedestrian underpasses, said a statement released by the Ministry. Mr. Modi had laid the stone for the expressway in December 2015.
