Delhi-Meerut Expressway: Major relief for Delhi-NCR commuters

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 Delhi-Noida-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.