Noida: The much-awaited expressway between Delhi and Meerut which is expected to reduce travel time to less than half has been opened to traffic for a trial run from Thursday. However, the formal inauguration of the e-way will take place in about two months.
The 96 km-long 14-lane expressway has been completed at a cost of Rs 8, 346 crore in total four phases while separate speed limits have been set for each phase.
The expressway will provide major relief to commuters who are travelling to Dehradun, Haridwar, Saharanpur from Delhi.
Starting from Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to UP Gate, the expressway travels from Dasna, Hapur to Meerut. The first stretch from Sarai Kale Khan to UP gate was made operational in May 2018 and the 22.2km stretch from Dasna to Hapur was opened in September 2019.
The rest of the two stretches from UP Gate to Dasna which covers 19.2 km and 31.8 km from Dasna to Meerut got delayed firstly due to land acquisition issues and then Covid pandemic. "The Delhi-Meerut expressway has been thrown open for public from Thursday. Initially we are running in on trial basis and are charging no toll, however, FASTag system is being tested and will be applicable within a week. We expect that the committing time between Delhi to Meerut will be reduced to around 45 minutes from earlier two hours" said a senior National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officer.
There are 14-lanes at the DME, of which six lanes in the middle are DME and the eight others are NH-9.
There will be two toll plazas at the expressway one at Chhijarsi in Ghaziabad and another at Partapur in Meerut.
As of now, the commuters can use all the lanes to travel from Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to Meerut without having to take diversions into service lanes.
However, the drive from Meerut to Delhi, however, will still not be an uninterrupted one because the lanes for Delhi-bound traffic are closed at UP Gate because of the farmers' agitation.