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Travel from Delhi to Meerut in just 45 minutes. All you need to know about the new expressway
The 82-km-long expressway connecting the cities has 60 km of expressway and 22 km of national highway.
It will only take 45 minutes to travel from Delhi to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh as the much-awaited Delhi-Meerut Expressway was thrown open to the public on Thursday. Union minister of road, transport and highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday announced the completion of the project, adding that the government fulfilled the promise of reducing the travel time between the two cities from 2.5 hours to just 45 minutes.
“Delhi Meerut Expressway has now been completed & opened to traffic. We have fulfilled our promise of reducing travel time between Delhi - Meerut from 2.5 hours to 45 minutes,” Gadkari said on Twitter, along with a video of the project.
Here’s all you need to know about the expressway:
What opened for public on Thursday are the second and fourth phases of the Delhi Meerut Expressway (DME). The first phase i.e. Akshardham to UP Gate of 14 km and 22-km-long phase 3 from Dasna to Hapur are already operational. The phase 2 of 19 km links UP Gate and Dasna and phase 4 of 32 km link Dasna and Meerut.
The project has been developed at the cost of ₹8,346 crore.
The 82-km-long expressway connecting the cities has 60 km of expressway and 22 km of national highway.
Twenty four small and big bridges, 10 flyovers, three railway bridges, 95 underpasses and several pedestrian bridges have been constructed on the expressway.
For the safety of the commuters, more than 4,500 lights and cameras have been installed on the entire road.
Over 2.5 meters cycle corridor and 2 meters-wide footpath have been drawn alongside the roads on phase 1 and phase 2 of the expressway for the safety of the pedestrians and cyclists.
In order to make the corridor a smart expressway, weather, travel and other details about the expressway will be provided to the commuters during their transit.
The expressway will also be using the automatic number plate reader (ANPR) technology, which uses high definition high speed cameras to tax tolls without the need of the vehicles to stop, thus avoiding unnecessary traffic and saving fuel.
The expressway will also reduce the time to travel from the national capital to the state of Uttarakhand. Besides, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, cities in Uttarakhand like Haridwar and Dehradun will also not remain a faraway destination.
Several exits and entry points have been provided in the expressway for smoother connectivity like the eastern peripheral expressway, Akshardham, Dundahera, Sarai Kale Khan, Dasna, Indrapuram and Noida.
