First highway with wildlife protection corridor! Delhi-Dehradun Expressway will cut travel time to 2.5 hours

Work on Delhi-Dehradun Expressway to start soon! The work on the upcoming Delhi-Saharanpur-Dehradun Economic corridor is currently underway. This highway project, once completed, will reduce the distance between the two cities from 235 km to 210 km, and travel time from the current 6.5 hours to just 2.5 hours. According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway will be the country’s first such highway where there will be a 12 km long elevated corridor for the protection of wildlife. The ministry has decided to execute the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway project under Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) mode.

दिल्ली – देहरादून एक्सप्रेस-वे पर काम जल्द ही शुरू होगा। इससे दोनों शहरों की दूरी 235 km से घटकर 210 km रह जाएगी और 6.5 घंटे की जगह मात्र 2.5 घंटे में पहुँचा जा सकेगा। यह देश का पहला ऐसा हाइवे होगा जिसमें वन्यजीव संरक्षण के लिए 12 km लंबा एलिवेटेड कॉरिडोर बनेगा। #PragatiKaHighway pic.twitter.com/MwXciMcnvS

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In a bid to enhance the road user experience, wayside amenities have been provisioned every 25 to 30 km. To enable pay toll, closed toll mechanism would be adopted, only to the extent of highway used, the ministry said. The development of the Delhi-Saharanpur-Dehradun Economic corridor is expected to boost the economy of the region being served by the highway, especially giving a boost to Uttarakhand’s tourism industry. For the implementation of the project, the entire length from Akshardham to Dehradun will be divided into four different sections:

Section 1 of this expressway project is being developed to six lanes with 6L service road being in built up reach, with full access control. It is divided into two packages, where package 1 falls in Delhi portion in 14.75 km and out of this 6.4 km portion is elevated, while package 2 falls in Uttar Pradesh in 16.85 km of which 11.2 km is elevated. For these two packages, the tendering process has been completed. This section 1 would start from Akshardham Temple and pass via Geeta colony, Mandola, Khajurikhas, etc. This highway is expected to decongest northeast Delhi as well as enhance the development potential of Tronica city, Mandola Vihar Yojana of Uttar Pradesh government.

Section 2 of this project is planned as six lane fully access controlled and the entire length is Greenfield, passing via Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Baghpat and Saharanpur districts. The detailed project report is complete and the process of tendering has been initiated in four packages. The process of land acquisition is going on and Environment/Forest clearance proposal have been applied. The project award target is March 2021, subject to obtaining environment/forest clearance and substantial land acquisition is in place.

Section 3 of this project starts from the Saharanpur bypass and it ends at Ganeshpur. Recently, the entire length has completed to four lanes by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). To make it fully access controlled in order to achieve minimum 100 km per hour speed, necessary underpasses and service road are being planned.

Section 4 of this project is planned as six lane with full access controlled. This section passes primarily through Reserve Forest in UP and Uttarakhand. Out of the 20 km length, 15 km is realignment comprising of the elevated wildlife corridor and 5 km is brownfield expansion. Due to wildlife concerns, ROW is restricted to 25 metres in general. Wildlife and Forest clearances have already been obtained. The bids in three packages have been received and is currently under evaluation. To award the project, the target is by March 2021.