DND-Jaitpur Expressway Stretch Opens For Trial, Delhi To Get Faster Faridabad Link

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has opened a 9-km stretch of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway between DND Flyway and Jaitpur on a trial basis.

The move is expected to provide relief to commuters travelling between Ashram, Kalindi Kunj and Faridabad. People coming from east and south Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad can now access the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway more easily and travel towards Jaipur and Sawai Madhopur.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Dinesh Kumar Gupta said the trials are being conducted to assess the road and traffic arrangements before the full opening. Once operational, the corridor is expected to provide a smoother route for commuters travelling from Delhi and Noida towards Faridabad and Jaipur, HT reported.

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The new stretch is also expected to reduce traffic pressure on Mathura Road, which sees heavy traffic between Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. It could provide relief to residents of New Friends Colony, Sukhdev Vihar, Sarita Vihar and Kalindi Kunj.

Commuters from Noida and Ghaziabad will also be able to avoid the heavily congested Kalindi Kunj route.

The Delhi section of the expressway is nearly 9 km long. About 7.5 km of it is elevated, while the remaining section is at ground level. The stretch also includes a 140-metre-long structure over the Agra Canal. The corridor has two entry and exit points in Delhi, at Jaitpur and Meethapur. However, these points have been kept closed for now during the trial.

During the trial, motorists have been asked to maintain a speed of 40 kmph. Two traffic personnel have also been deployed at the zero point to guide motorists travelling towards Faridabad and Jaipur. Traffic police said the number of motorists using the stretch was low on the first day of the trial on Friday but increased on Saturday.

The Jaitpur-KMP (Kundli-Manesar-Palwal) interchange section is already open to traffic. Around 50 km of the 59-km Delhi link, from the DND Flyway to the junction with the KMP Expressway, has been opened in phases.

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Once the DND-Jaitpur section is fully operational, Delhi will have a direct connection to the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, the country's longest access-controlled expressway.

The expressway was originally planned from Sohna to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) near Mumbai. In August 2018, NHAI proposed extending the alignment to the DND Flyway so that the corridor could begin from Delhi.

At a recent review meeting chaired by Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, NHAI officials said the expressway is likely to be fully operational up to Vadodara by December.

The Centre is also building a direct link between the expressway and Noida International Airport. In March, the Union Cabinet approved a modified alignment for the project, including an 11-km elevated stretch between Faridabad and the airport. The revised cost of the project is Rs 3,631 crore.