Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday will dedicate to the nation two newly-built expressways in the Delhi-NCR Region.

The first of these is the 14 lane, access controlled, package-I of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway stretching from Nizammudin Bridge to Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border.

This 8.4-km stretch of National Highway has been completed in a record time of 18 months as against the earlier expected construction period of 30 months, at a cost of about Rs 841 crore .

It includes a 6-lane expressway and 4+4 service lanes, facility from Nizamuddin Bridge in Delhi to the UP Border. This is the first National Highway in the country with 14 lanes, and has several features that would help reduce pollution.

These include a 2.5-metre-wide cycle track on either side of the highway, a vertical garden on the Yamuna Bridge, solar lighting system and watering of plants through drip irrigation only.

The foundation stone for the project was laid by the PM Modi on 31st December 2015.

The Delhi- Meerut Expressway project aims to provide faster and safer connectivity between Delhi and Meerut and beyond this, with Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The total length of the project is 82 km, of which the first 27.74 kms will be 14-laned, while the rest will be 6-lane expressway. The project is likely to cost Rs 4,975.17 crore. This will be the first expressway to have dedicated bicycle tracks on the nearly 28 km stretch between Delhi and Dasna.

The project involves construction of 11 flyovers/interchanges, 5 major and 24 minor bridges, 3 ROBs (rail over bridges), 36 vehicular and 14 pedestrian underpasses. It will also have elevated section of 5.91 kms.

Once the entire project is complete, it will take just 60 minutes to travel from Delhi to Meerut.

Eastern peripheral expressway

The second project to be dedicated to the nation is the 135-km-long eastern peripheral expressway (EPE), stretching from Kundli on NH-1 to Palwal on NH 2. PM had laid the foundation for this project on 5th November 2015.

The project of peripheral expressways around Delhi, comprising western peripheral expressway (WPE) and eastern peripheral expressway (EPE), connecting NH-1 and NH-2 from western and eastern side of Delhi, has been envisaged with the twin objectives of decongesting and de-polluting the national capital by diverting the traffic not destined for Delhi.

A total of 1,700 hectares of land has been acquired for the EPE at a cost of about Rs 5,900 crore. The construction cost of the project is about Rs 4,618 crore.

The expressway has been completed in a record time of about 500 days against the scheduled target of 910 days.

It is a fully access-controlled six-lane expressway. Entry and exit on the expressway is through designated interchanges only. The expressway has 4 major bridges, 46 minor bridges, 3 flyovers, 7 inter-changes, 221 underpasses, 8 ROBs, and 114 culverts.

The EPE has a closed tolling system in which toll will be collected only for the distance travelled and not for the entire length. Toll plazas will be equipped with Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system for faster toll collection and uninterrupted travel experience. Weigh-in-Motion (WIMs) equipment have been installed at all 30 entry points of the Expressway to stop entry of over-loaded vehicles.

This is the first expressway in the country to use solar power on the entire length of 135 km. There are eight solar power plants on this Expressway, with a capacity of 4000 KW (4 megawatt) for lighting of the underpasses and running solar pumps for watering plants.

Rainwater harvesting has been provided at every 500 meters on the EPE and there is drip irrigation for plants all along the expressway. There are also 36 replicas of monuments depicting Indian culture and heritage.