On his 61st birthday, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gakdari gave a gift to Delhi, for which he will always be remembered! Gadkari celebrated his birthday today with the inauguration of the Phase I of the grand Delhi-Meerut Expressway, which is India’s first 14-lane highway. The inauguration took place by the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With the inauguration, approximately nine km strectch of the expressway (from Nizamuddin Bridge in Delhi to UP border) has been partially opened to commuters.

Also read: Bigwigs heap praises on Nitin Gadkari on his 60th birthday in a high profile birthday bash in Nagpur

Here are some salient features of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway!

– The nine km stretch which has been made accessible to commuters has been completed in a record time of 18 months against the deadline of 30 months. It took Rs 842 crore to complete the first phase of the expressway.

– The expressway project is spread across 82 kms and is being built to connect Delhi-NCR to Meerut, western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Once complete, the expressway way will reduce the travelling time from Delhi to Meerut from 2.5 hours to just 45 minutes! The entire cost of the project, which is scheduled to be completed in March 2019, is Rs 7500 crores.

– Out of 82 kms of the solar powered expressway, around 28 kms will be a 14-laned while the remaining would be 6-lane expressway. The expressway would not only help decongest traffic in Delhi-NCR but will also reduce pollution.

– In the first phase, five flyovers, four underpasses, four foot-over bridges and two bridges across Yamuna have been made. After the completion the project, the structures, which will form a part of the expressway include: Five major bridges, 24 small bridges, three rail over bridges, 11 flyovers, 34 underpasses, four pedestrian underpasses and 74 service roads!

– The expressway has a 2.5-metre-wide cycle track on either side of the highway and a 1.5 metre wide footpath for pedestrians. The expressway will also have dedicated bicycle tracks on the 28 km stretch between Delhi and Dasna. As per a report, artists have also been roped in to paint and beautify the pillars and walls of underpasses of the newly built stretch of the expressway.

– The expressway will house vertical gardens with an aim to reduce pollution levels. In the first phase, a garden has been made at the Yamuna Bridge.

– The project has been divided into four phases: Nizamuddin Bridge to UP border (8.36 km), UP border to Dasna (19.28 km), Dasna to Hapur (22.27 km), Green-field alignment of Delhi-Meerut Expressway from Dasna to Meerut (31.78 km).

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? Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) May 27, 2018