NHAI plans 31 underpasses and flyovers on the road to Agra as Delhi sets to zoom to Taj on a wide,signal-free stretch.
drive to Taj Mahal through NH 2 will become faster and nearly signalfree in the next three years.The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) plans to build flyovers or underpasses at all traffic intersections on the route,including one at Ashram Chowk in the capital,and a major private developer will start work on widening of the NH 2 between Badarpur and Agra.
These plans were unveiled during the inauguration of the 4.4km Badarpur elevated road on Monday,which is expected to reduce the Delhi-Faridabad commute time by up to 40 minutes.While the stretch had informally opened a week ago,tolling began only after the inauguration.The toll rates are Rs 20 for one-way drive and Rs 30 for multiple entries within 24 hours.
Transport and highways minister Kamal Nath said NHAI would soon complete a study on the Ashram-Badarpur stretch of NH 2.
Promising a smooth ride on NH 2 between Delhi and Faridabad,Nath said: We will build flyovers and underpasses on this stretch soon as a part of the upgradation work of this corridor.Similarly,we will soon get a report on whether we need to build a flyover or underpass at Ashram crossing.
He added that with the completion of the Badarpur project,people living in Delhi and Faridabad have come closer.Though its a toll road,the interests of users who dont want to pay toll has also been kept in mind while designing this project.Those who take the improved ground road avoiding the elevated stretches wont have to pay toll, said a senior NHAI official.The absence of such an arrangement has been long felt at the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway.
Speaking on the occasion,road secretary R S Gujaral said that the elevated stretch would reduce travel time between Delhi and Faridabad by nearly 40 minutes.Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the project was a dream come true for Faridabad residents.This flyover and the Metro extension to Faridabad will drastically change the face of transportation between the two cities.I request Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit to give a go ahead to the extension of the Metro to Bahadurgarh and Kundli,
Hooda said.Earlier in the day,Ajit Gulab Chand,chief of HCC infrastructure,which has built the elevated road,told Times Property,This project is close to my heart.I have a long connection with Delhi-Faridabad road.Decades ago,when I started working,my first job was at Indian Hume Pipes (one of our family businesses) having office just across the border.I travelled regularly for 2-3 years, he added.
Gulab Chand claimed the flyover was an eco-friendly structure and a water positive project.We reduced the water used for all works in this project.We used only one-third water in comparison to a normal civil project.This can easily be replicated in any part of Delhi,Haryana or other states, he pointed out.
Wide,signal-free stretch
The opening of the elevated road at one of the most congested crossings in the city the Badarpur intersection has paved the way for other crowded junctions on NH 2 in Faridabad to get a similar treatment.In a written reply in the Lok Sabha,minister of state for highways,R P N Singh,had submitted that 31 flyovers and underpasses would be constructed on the Delhi-Agra section of this national highway.Six six-lane flyovers and another underpass,also six-laned,would be constructed at the Sector 59 crossing. We hope to start work on this stretch from January.We will create sufficient additional space so that regular commuters dont face any bottlenecks while the construction is carried out, said Sudhir Hoshing,senior vice-president of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd.
At present,these intersections witness major snarls during peak hours and also during the night when there is heavy movement of trucks on the highway.The construction of flyovers will not only ensure uninterrupted movement of traffic heading towards Agra,but will also reduce the waiting time for vehicles heading for different sectors in Faridabad.Reliance has got the NHAI project and has already achieved financial closure.
According to the reply in Parliament,all flyovers and underpasses on this 180km stretch will be six-lane structures,barring one,in Agra,which will have four lanes.Once the project is completed,it will take just two hours to reach Agra from the capital as the maximum design speed on this stretch will be 100kmph. The opening of the Badarpur elevated road has already brought huge relief to daily commuters, said an NHAI official.
Reliance officials claimed that the traffic situation on this stretch will not be as bad as that witnessed on the Gurgaon-Jaipur corridor where traffic flow is much more compared to NH 2.The BOT project takes off from Delhi-Faridabad border and goes through Agra and Mathura districts in UP and Faridabad in Haryana.
Experts feel the series of flyovers will drastically change the economy of these areas. Youll see the skyline change.New and swanky buildings will soon come up in these areas.
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