Decongesting Delhi: Plans underway to link UER-II with Delhi-Katra & Delhi-Mumbai expressway | Details

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated two major road projects in Delhi on Sunday— the Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) and the Dwarka Expressway. Speaking at the event, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari said these new roads will help reduce traffic jams in the capital by nearly 50 per cent.

He also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supporting the goal of building modern infrastructure across India. Gadkari explained that earlier, Delhi had severe traffic issues, and the central government decided to take strong steps to solve the problem and make the city free from congestion.

Gadkari mentioned that the government is now working to connect UER-II with the Delhi-Katra Expressway. This will also create links between Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, and the Delhi airport. The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will also be connected to UER-II.

Another major road, the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, will link with UER-II as well. With this connection, the travel time between Dehradun and the Delhi airport will reduce from 2 to 2.5 hours to just 45 minutes. In addition, a road will connect Noida and Faridabad to the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, acting as a bypass for the eastern part of Delhi.

Gadkari added that a direct road will connect southwest Delhi to the Noida-Faridabad road. A new tunnel will also be built, connecting Shiv Murti on the Dwarka Expressway to Nelson Mandela Road in Vasant Kunj. Elevated roads from AIIMS to Mahipalpur and Gurugram will help reduce traffic on the inner and outer ring roads.

These road projects will also lower the cost of transporting goods, making Indian products more competitive in the global market. Citing research by various IITs, Gadkari said road improvements have already helped reduce logistics costs by 6per cent, and this cost is expected to go down even more by 2026.

Out of Rs 65,000 crore worth of projects meant to solve Delhi’s traffic problems, Rs 48,000 crore worth have already been completed over the last 10 years. He mentioned that three out of six major expressways connected to Delhi are already finished. The rest, including the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, Delhi-Katra Expressway, and Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, will be completed by December 2026. Projects like the Dwarka Expressway, Delhi-Meerut Expressway, and Delhi Peripheral Ring Road are already done.

Gadkari also talked about the legal challenges they faced while working on the peripheral ring road. "It was not easy,” he said, "but we still managed to complete the project, which helped redirect heavy vehicles away from central Delhi.”

Other completed roads like the Delhi-Meerut Expressway and signal-free routes from Mukarba Chowk to Sonepat and Dhaula Kuan to Gurugram have already helped reduce both pollution and congestion.

According to Gadkari, the two newly opened roads were part of the Delhi Master Plan of 2001, but past governments didn’t take action on them.

As per the details shared, the tunnel between Shiv Murti and Nelson Mandela Marg will be 5 kilometers long, with two tubes, each having three lanes. It will go under the southern ridge of Delhi at a depth of 20 to 40 meters. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will include emergency exits and resting areas every 500 meters. This project is expected to cost Rs 3,500 crore.

The elevated road from AIIMS to Mahipalpur and Gurugram will be about 20 kilometers long and cost around Rs 5,000 crore. Another NHAI report given to the Delhi government says the road connecting UER-II with the Delhi-Katra Expressway will be around 20 kilometers long and cost Rs 4,000 crore. It will serve as another route in place of the busy NH-44.

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The extension of UER-II to the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway will go from Alipur to near Tronica City, covering about 17 kilometers. This stretch will cost roughly Rs 3,350 crore. Once ready, it will give faster access to people from Haryana and Rajasthan going to Dehradun. The project will also take away long-distance and goods traffic from the main roads of Delhi, easing pressure on NH-48, NH-44, the Ring Roads, and Barapullah elevated corridor.

Another part of the UER-II project is an eastern extension. This will serve as a bypass for East Delhi and link Noida, Ghaziabad, and Faridabad. This part will be about 65 kilometers long and cost around Rs 7,500 crore. "The road will link important highways like the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, Delhi-Meerut Expressway, Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, and the DND-Faridabad road,” the report said. It will also improve connectivity between places like Loni, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, and Noida with north, northwest, and west Delhi.