The Union Road Transport Minister said the new ‘green’ roads will cut down air pollution, reduce traffic snarls as well as transport and logistics costs.

Delhi-Dehradun expressway project work will start soon. The distance between the two cities will be reduced from 235 km to 210 km and travel time from the current 6.5 hours to just 2.5 hours once the project of this expressway gets completed.

The Delhi-Dehradun Expressway will be the country’s first such highway where there will be a 12 km long elevated corridor for the protection of wildlife. The ministry has decided to execute the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway project under Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) mode, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Wayside amenities have been provisioned every 25 to 30 km in a bid to enhance the road user experience. The ministry said that to enable pay toll, a closed toll mechanism would be adopted, only to the extent of highway used.The entire length from Akshardham in Delhi to Dehradun will be divided into four different sections for the implementation of the project.

Section 1 of this expressway project would start from Akshardham Temple and pass via Geeta colony, Mandola, Khajurikhas, etc. This highway is expected to decongest northeast Delhi as well as enhance the development potential of Tronica city, Mandola Vihar Yojana of Uttar Pradesh government.

Section 2 of this project is planned as six lanes and the entire length is greenfield, passing via Tronica City Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Baghpat and Saharanpur districts. The process of land acquisition is going on and environment clearance has been sought.