India's Widest Expressway: 14 Vehicles, 120 Km/h Speed, Delhi-Meerut in Just 45 Minutes!
The country's widest expressway can have 14 vehicles side by side. Officially National Expressway-3 is the 96-km controlled-access highway connecting Delhi to Meerut via Dasna in Ghaziabad. This stretch improves traffic substantially across Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, and Hapur. Developed under the Road Transport & Highways Ministry led by Nitin Gadkari, the old eight-lane NH-9 was upgraded to a massive 14-lane stretch up to Dasna, where the route splits towards Meerut.
One of the most notable accomplishments of the expressway is the significant reduction in traveling time. The 70-kilometer journey from Delhi to Meerut, which used to take 2.5 hours, now takes only 45 minutes with the help of the expressway. After opening phases 2 and 4 to the public on April 1, 2021, the expressway has enhanced connectivity not only for Meerut but also for cities like Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, and Haridwar.
This project was spread over two decades with a duration of more than 20 years. It was conceptualized in the year 1999 and the project for Delhi-Meerut Expressway was under planning and development for several years until its foundation stone was laid on December 31, 2015. Presently, it costs about Rs 7,500 crores, filling the much-desired need of the faster travelling requirement in the region.
The phases involved in the construction of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway: The construction of this expressway took place over four main phases.
Phase 1: It is an 8.7 km stretch from Nizamuddin Bridge to the Delhi-UP border with four flyovers and three underpasses.
Phase 2: This stretch of 19.2 km from the UP border to Dasna features a 14-lane road which will have six expressway lanes and eight highway lanes along with cycling tracks, 13 vehicle underpasses and six pedestrian underpasses.
Phase 3 - The 22 km stretch from Dasna to Hapur on NH-24 was widened to six lanes and was inaugurated in September 2019.
Phase 4 - This is the final stretch of 46 km from Dasna to Meerut, with a six-lane configuration, and was inaugurated on April 1, 2021.
The expressway has varied speed limits for each stretch. For example, it has 120 km/h between Dasna and Meerut, 100 km/h through Ghaziabad, and 70 km/h in Delhi. The design of the expressway does not permit the auto rickshaws and motorcycles to utilize its six-lane central section keeping it open to faster moving vehicles.
