Delhi-Dehradun Expressway to open soon? Construction of last stretch nears end

Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, the new highway connecting the national capital and the capital city of Uttarakhand, will soon be open for vehicles to use. According to reports, the final stretch of the construction is expected to be completed by next month. The expressway is likely to be open for commute in July. The 210-km long six-lane expressway promises to cut down travel time between Delhi and Dehradun to just two and a half hours from five hours taken currently.

According to reports, construction work for the fourth phase of the new expressway is near completion. The 20-km stretch between Rajaji National Park and Dehradun remains the final section to be completed. This stretch also includes a 12-km long elevated wildlife corridor, Asia's largest, through the national reserve forest. It also includes a 340-metre long Daat Kali tunnel.

Earlier this month, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said that the first phase of the 210-km long highway is expected to be opened by the end of next month. Construction at this section was earlier scheduled to be completed by March. However, due to restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan to tackle pollution levels in Delhi, construction work of the expressway was delayed. The first phase of the Delhi-Dehradun greenfield access-controlled Expressway will connect Akshardham Temple in Delhi and Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, a distance of around 32 kms.

The Delhi-Dehradun Expressway is being built at a cost of around ₹8,300 crore. Besides Delhi and Dehradun, the expressway will pass through cities like Shamli and Saharanpur. It is expected to cut down travel time between the two cities by almost half. Currently, commuters use the Delhi-Meerut Expressway to travel between the two cities which takes around five hours. The new expressway promises to reduce the travel time to around two and a half hours.

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