NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 210-km-long Delhi-Dehradun expressway, a six-lane access-controlled corridor expected to significantly cut travel time between the two cities from around six hours to about two-and-a-half hours, on Tuesday.
Built at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore, the high-speed expressway, with an operational speed limit of 100 kmph, will begin near Akshardham Temple and pass through districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, and Saharanpur, before reaching Dehradun in Uttarakhand. The project is expected to ease congestion in parts of east and northeast Delhi as well as on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway.
The inauguration will be held in Dehradun and attended by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. Ahead of the event, the PM will review the wildlife corridor near Saharanpur and visit the Jai Maa Daat Kali temple near Dehradun. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, along with MoS for Road Transport Harsh Malhotra and Northeast Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari, will attend the event virtually.
The expressway features 10 interchanges, three railway overbridges, four major bridges, and 12 wayside amenities. It is equipped with an Advanced Traffic Management System aimed at improving safety as well as the traffic efficiency.
Designed with ecological considerations, the project includes a 12-km elevated wildlife corridor, among the longest in Asia, along with eight animal passes, two 200-metre elephant underpasses, and a 370-metre tunnel near the Daat Kali temple in a bid to minimise human-animal conflict. Approved in 2020, the foundation stone for the project was laid by PM Modi in December 2021. Officials said the expressway will enhance regional connectivity significantly.