Toll plazas on Yamuna Expressway set to get 10 new lanes each

NOIDA: Ten new lanes are set to come up at each of the three toll plazas between Greater Noida and Agra on the Yamuna Expressway to ease frequent traffic chaos. Currently, the toll plazas have 28 lanes each – 14 on either side.

A decision to construct the additional lanes at the toll plazas — Jewar, Mathura and Agra — was taken in March. These spots witness severe snarls, especially on weekends when more than 40,000 vehicles pass through it.
Santosh Pawar, GM (operations) at Jaypee Infratech, the private concessionaire that manages the expressway, told TOI that a detailed project report (DPR) was being prepared and the work was likely to start within a month. The new lanes would be ready in four months, he said.
“We hope to start construction within a month of the tender being floated. It will take four months for the entire work to be completed,” Pawar said, adding that all the toll gates would allow FASTags.
According to Yamuna Authority officials, the private concessionaire was directed to increase the number of lanes as vehicles spend about 20-25 minutes on an average in each of the toll plazas during the morning and evening rush hours. The plan, officials said, is to increase the number of lanes on the Delhi to Agra side first and then on the other side of the carriageway. They added that the work would be done in phases so that traffic movement was not hindered. Once the construction work is complete, the authority will undertake a month-long study to ascertain the total number of vehicles passing through the expressway daily and the average time taken to cross the toll plaza with the FASTag facility.
The FASTag system, which was started in June last year with just two lanes on each side, has now been extended to all the lanes after the service became mandatory on February 14 this year. Commuters without FASTags are required to pay double the toll charge.