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Noida: A second expressway is being planned between Noida and Greater Noida, and it will be a six-lane elevated road. This new road will run along the Yamuna River, starting from Okhla Barrage near Kalindi Kunj and connecting to the Yamuna Expressway through the Hindon-Yamuna area. The Uttar Pradesh government has now asked UPEIDA (Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority) to build this new bypass road near the river.
Earlier, the Noida Authority was considering two options—either an eight-lane ground-level road or a six-lane elevated road. The new road will help people traveling from Delhi and Faridabad to reach the Noida International Airport, which is expected to open later this year.
Officials explained that due to many illegal buildings and farmhouses on the Yamuna floodplains, building an elevated road makes more sense. A ground-level road would be difficult to get approved and might also cause more illegal construction in this flood-prone zone.
“No ground-level road would meet the rules or carry the amount of traffic expected. So, the elevated six-lane road is the only option that works,” said Noida Authority CEO Lokesh M while speaking to TOI.
The new route will now connect Sector 168 with a 75-meter-wide road between Sectors 149A and 150. Officials said a few changes in the design could happen before the final plan is ready. The Noida Authority earlier wanted to involve the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), but that would have required declaring the road as a national highway. That plan didn’t work out.
During a meeting on March 28, UP Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh, who also heads the board, suggested that if NHAI doesn’t take up the work, then Noida, Greater Noida, and Yamuna Expressway authorities should come together to build it. He asked the Noida Authority to take the lead in moving the project forward.
“The project will now be built by UPEIDA, which has handled big projects like the Lucknow-Agra Expressway and Purvanchal Expressway. But the construction will start only after the Irrigation Department gives a no-objection certificate (NOC). All three development authorities will share the cost. A meeting will be held soon to plan the work,” the CEO added.
Since a large part of this 30-km-long elevated road will pass through Noida, the Noida Authority might cover the biggest share of the cost. This new riverside road will provide an alternative to the current 25-km-long Noida Expressway, and it is expected to handle the growing traffic between Delhi and Noida. The rise in residential and business projects and the soon-to-open airport have made this road very important.
Right now, only one expressway connects Noida and Greater Noida, ending at Zero Point on the Yamuna Expressway. The new link will help reduce the traffic for vehicles traveling from Delhi to Agra, Lucknow, and other places. Officials believe it will also lower pollution, since fewer cars will get stuck in traffic jams.
The Noida Authority is also planning to build a cloverleaf interchange near the Mahamaya Flyover. This will connect the new expressway with the Chilla Elevated Road, which is under construction. The cloverleaf design is similar to the one near AIIMS in Delhi, and it will make switching between roads much smoother. The Chilla Elevated Road will also be six lanes wide, and it will help ease traffic jams at the Noida entry point.
Once this new road is finished, people from Mayur Vihar and East Delhi will be able to directly use the Noida Expressway. When this road is joined with the new elevated corridor, it will offer easy and fast travel between Delhi, Haryana, and other cities like Agra and Lucknow using the Yamuna and Lucknow expressways.
