New Delhi:The much-awaited 96 km-long Delhi-Meerut Expressway, which will reduce commuting time between the national capital and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh to a mere 45 minutes, was thrown open to public on Thursday.Union minister of road, transport and highways Nitin Gadkari today announced the completion of the project.”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. #PragatiKaHighway” Mr Gadkari said in a tweet.The project has been developed at the cost of Rs 8,346 crore.The expressway will also reduce the travel time from Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Haridwar and Dehradun to Delhi.The 8 lanes old stretch of National Highway 9 (NH-9) up to Dasna is widened to 14 lanes, widest expressway in the country.
The maximum permissible speed limit is 70 kmph in the phase 1, which is in Delhi. The remaining three phases in Uttar Pradesh have a permissible speed limit of 100 kmph.The next phase of the expressway is being built on a new alignment from Dasna to Meerut ? a six-lane stretch joining Meerut bypass. The 28 km (17 mi) stretch between Nizamuddin Bridge and Dasna is one of the most congested areas in the National Capital Region (NCR).