Expressway is yours from 4 pm

Driving from Delhi to Gurgaon will be a signal-free, high-speed experience from Wednesday evening, reports Sanjeev K Ahuja.

Driving from Delhi to Gurgaon will be a signal-free, high-speed experience from Wednesday evening.

HT Image

The entire stretch of the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway is finally ready for traffic. Its last link — from Rao Tula Ram to Palam flyover — and the 32-lane toll plaza at the border will be thrown open to traffic at 4 pm on Wednesday. With this, you can cover the 15-km distance from Rao Tula Ram Marg in Delhi to IFFCO Chowk crossing in Gurgaon in just 15 minutes instead of the earlier 45 minutes.

Although it is a toll road, you won’t have to pay the toll for a few days — till DS Constructions, which built the Expressway, gets the completion certificate from independent consultants RITES.

Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways T.R. Baalu, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will attend the inauguration.

Although eight of the nine flyovers were made operational last year, traffic diversions around Rao Tula Ram and traffic pile-ups at signals had turned driving into a nightmare. “I have suffered for more than two years. I remember days when it would take me two hours to reach my home in DLF Phase II from my office in Connaught Place,” said Manoj Dwivedi, an IT consultant. “I am looking forward to a snarl-free drive on the Expressway.”