Yamuna Expressway to be widened to 8 lanes: Yeida

The Yamuna Expressway industrial development authority (Yeida) directed Jaypee Infratech Limited (Jil) on Tuesday to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) to widen the 165km Yamuna Expressway, which connects Greater Noida with Agra, to 8 lanes from the existing 6 lanes

The Yamuna Expressway industrial development authority (Yeida) directed Jaypee Infratech Limited (Jil) on Tuesday to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) to widen the 165km Yamuna Expressway, which connects Greater Noida with Agra, to 8 lanes from the existing 6 lanes.

Yeida on Tuesday directed Jil to prepare the DPR within the next 3-4 months, said officials. (HT Photo)

“According to the concessionaire agreement, the toll operator has an obligation to widen the 6-lane-wide expressway to 8 lanes because the number of commuters has increased to 32,000 per day. When we realised that daily commuters have increased to 32,000, we told Jil to widen the expressway,” said Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer of Yeida.

Yeida on Tuesday directed Jil to prepare the DPR within the next 3-4 months, said officials. “Once the DPR is submitted, it will be approved so that work can begin. Our aim is to finish the eight-lane expressway within a year,” said Singh.

A Jil official requesting anonymity said, “We have got directions from Yeida regarding widening of the expressway and we will soon prepare the DPR.”

The Yeida CEO also directed Jil to revise the median of the Yamuna expressway. “We have directed Jil to increase the height of the side median so that vehicles do not fall off the road causing accidents. We have taken this decision after several vehicles hit the roadside barrier and fell off the expressway,” said Singh.

In a meeting with Jil management on Monday, Yeida discussed safety issues on the expressway in the wake of several accidents caused due to low visibility amid fog, said officials.

On December 20, 2022, one person died and at least 20 others were injured when a bus with 60 passengers hit a stationery container near Dankaur on the expressway. The bus fell off the expressway as the side median height was not up to the mark, said officials.

“The Indian Road Congress says the height of the side median barrier should be 2.78 metres so that vehicles do not fall off. Currently, the height is only half a metre,” said Singh.