Dwarka, July 11: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said Dwarka Expressway, also known as Northern Peripheral Road in Haryana, is being developed as the first elevated urban expressway in India.
Taking to Twitter, he said Dwarka Expressway will reduce pressure on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and arterial roads that experience severe traffic congestion, primarily from the commuters of West Delhi.
He said 50-60% traffic on NH-8 will be diverted onto the new expressway, thereby improving traffic movement towards Sohna Road, Golf Course Road and air extension. Once operational in 2023, it shall immensely help reducing air pollution in Delhi-NCR too.
Gadkari said that the govt, under visionary leadership of PM Narendra Modi is actively prioritizing the development of World Class Infrastructure across all the corners of country & paving the path for 'Prosperity through Connectivity'.
He said it is a 16-lane access-controlled highway with provision of minimum 3-lane service road on both sides, the expressway connecting Dwarka in Delhi to Gurugram in Haryana is being developed at a total cost of Rs 9,000 crore with total length of 29 km out of which 19 km length falls in Haryana while the remaining 10km of length is in Delhi.
Gadkari said Dwarka Expressway would have 4 multi-level interchanges (tunnel/underpasses, at-Grade Road, Elevated Flyover & Flyover above Flyover) at major junctions including construction of longest (3.6 km) and widest (8 lane) urban road tunnel in India. The expressway begins from Shiv-Murti on NH-8 (Delhi-Gurugram expressway) and ends near Kherki Daula Toll Plaza, through Dwarka Sector 21, Gurugram border and Basai.
The Minister said the development of this prestigious project plays a pivotal role in the plan to decongest the capital city of Delhi. Once the Dwarka Expressway is completed, it would provide direct access to upcoming India International Convention Centre (IICC) in Sector 25 of Dwarka and will also provide an alternate connectivity to IGI Airport through shallow tunnel.
He said the state-of-the-art Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) like Advanced Traffic Management System, Toll Management System, CCTV Cameras, Surveillance etc. would be part of this upcoming world class corridor.
Gadkari said Dwarka Expressway will have a massive feat of tree transplantation with 12,000 trees transplanted. The project is also an engineering ace that includes a 34 meter wide 8-lane highway, a first of its kind being constructed on a single pier.
The project is estimated to consume 2 lakh MT of steel (30 times of steel used in Eiffel Tower) and 20 lakh cum of concrete (6 times of concrete used in Burj Khalifa) for its construction.