E-Paper
From July, travel time between Delhi and Jaipur to reduce by an hour
This 67-km-long high-speed corridor will help commuters travelling between Delhi, Gurugram and Jaipur to avoid the congested NH 44 and it will also reduce the distance between these cities by 12 kilometres
Gurugram: Travel time between Delhi and Jaipur is likely to reduce by about an hour as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) plans to open a 67-km-long spur from the Delhi-Mumbai expressway, connecting Bandikui with Jaipur through a four-lane access-controlled road from the middle of July, officials said.
This 67-km-long high-speed corridor will help commuters travelling between Delhi, Gurugram and Jaipur to avoid the congested NH 44 and it will also reduce the distance between these cities by 12 kilometres. Currently, people going to Jaipur from Delhi have to exit the Delhi-Mumbai expressway at the Bandhrej toll plaza in Dausa district, from where they have to take the congested Jaipur-Agra highway (NH 44), which slows down movement considerably.
At present, it takes around 2 hours and 30 minutes to travel between Delhi and Bandhrej (245kms) on the Delhi-Mumbai expressway and another 1.5 hours to cover the remaining distance (69kms). However, with opening of traffic on this spur, the total travel time is likely to reduce by an hour between the two cities.
NHAI regional officer (Rajasthan), Pradeep Atri, said that work on 67.8km of the expressway spur from Bandikui to Jaipur has been completed and this spur will now ensure that the commuters can cover this distance in around 3 hours to 3 hours and 15 minutes. “This section will be opened for traffic trial from mid-July. Presently, a safety audit is being conducted and based on its report remedial measures will be taken. This road once operational will reduce the travel time by about an hour between Delhi and Jaipur,” he said.
According to NHAI officials, the work on the Jaipur-Bandikui spur has been completed at a cost of ₹1,368 crore. The expressway will have four lanes with paved shoulders and it will be access-controlled like the Delhi-Mumbai expressway, they added.
NHAI manager, Pushpendra Singh, said that it has taken around 2.5 years to complete the work on this spur. “This is a state-of-the-art road and we expect significant shift in traffic from the Delhi-Jaipur highway to the Delhi-Mumbai expressway from next month. This road will be access-controlled so traffic will move smoothly and an interchange at Bandikui will allow vehicles to move on to the Delhi-Mumbai expressway,” he said.
NHAI officials added that to reduce the congestion on the Jaipur-Agra highway, they are also planning a greenfield expressway project, under which a new road will be built to connect the two cities. “A greenfield project to connect Jaipur with the Delhi-Agra highway is also being planned,” a senior NHAI official said.
