Delhi to Agra in two hours

With the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) inviting bids for the six-laning of Delhi-Agra stretch of NH-2, driving down to the Taj city may soon be a smoother and quicker ride. Once completed, it would take not more than two hours to cover the 180km from Delhi to Agra as the maximum speed on this stretch would be 100 kmph. NHAI sources said the date of the pre-bidding conference has been extended to December 18 and the revised last date of submitting bids has been fixed on January 12. The Rs 1,566-crore BOT project takes off from Delhi-Faridabad border, and traverses the districts of Agra, Mathura in Uttar Pradesh and Faridabad in Haryana. For uninterrupted traffic flow on this proposed six-lane access control highway, NHAI proposes construction of as many as 25 flyovers at all the major junctions throughout the stretch wile the minor ones would be done away with. To meet the operational objective of maintaining uninterrupted flow of traffic without reducing the speed to accommodate entry, exit or cross movement of other traffic, there are proposals for construction of 32 vehicular and 61 pedestrian underpasses besides having 76 entry and exit points to the partially accesscontrolled highway. This portion of NH-2 is already four-lane and the corridor has been identified as one of the fastest growing economic corridors. As per the proposal, six-lane flyovers would be constructed at NHPC Chowk, Bhatkal Lake, Old Faridabad Chowk, Ajronda Chowk, HUDA Residency, HIDC Chowk, Bata Chowk in falling in Faridabad. ‘‘These proposed flyovers would also help decongest crossings in Faridabad. All the main crossings on the existing stretch would be done away with construction of flyovers whether it is in Palwal, Hodal, Mathura and Agra,’’ said an NHAI official. The feasibility report for the project mentions many median openings at shorter intervals, not only create traffic hazards, but also to reduce the efficiency of the highspeed corridor. According to the report, NHAI also proposes to construct a service road to act as a physical barrier to avoid changes for merging or mingling with the main traffic of the highway.