5.3.10

Taj expressway update

The six-lane Taj expressway, which will cut Delhi-Agra travel time by an hour and ease congestion on the Mathura Road route, will be ready for traffic before the Commonwealth Games. The project, scheduled for completion by April 2013, is being speeded up on orders of CM Mayawati who wants CWG visitors to get a fast ride to Agra. Y K Bahl, additional CEO of Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, said Mayawati had met officials of JP Infratech — the project builders — and asked them to make sure that the stretch is ready for traffic by September 30. The project, scheduled for completion by April 2013, is being speeded up on orders of CM Mayawati who wants CWG visitors to get a fast ride to Agra. The six-lane Taj expressway that according to officials will come be operational before the Commonwealth Games will benefit Greater Noida and other NCR residents who would get a fast link to Agra, Aligarh, Mathura and Hathras. However, as per the project contract, the 21.5km Greater Noida expressway will be handed over to JP Infratech and will become a toll road with the opening of the 165km Taj expressway. The Taj expressway is being built from Pari Chowk in Greater Noida to Agra. Said Bahl, ‘‘Our objective is to reduce the time taken to reach Agra from Pari Chowk in Greater Noida to two hours. But many of the facilities cannot be completed before the Games. So, the time taken could be closer to three hours, for the present. JP Infratech is bound to complete the road along with all facilities only by April 2013. Of course, the actual full completion may come much earlier.’’ Bahl said the expressway will eventually have five 5 toll plazas, six interchanges (clover leaves) and seven stops for facilities like fuel pumps, shopping, motels and garages. But, all this can not be completed before the Games. So for the present, motorists will have to go off the expressway through temporary roads. A clover leaf being constructed at Pari Chowk is also likely to be completed a month or two after the games. It is not yet clear how much toll will ultimately be charged for the use of the Taj expressway or the Noida-Greater Noida expressway.

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