Dwarka Expressway: Gurugram Section Of India's First Elevated Expressway Likely To Open In March

The Gurugram portion of the Dwarka Expressway is likely to be opened in the first week of March, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to inaugurate it.

The 29.6-km-long Dwarka expressway branches out from NH-8 near Shiv Murti, passing through Dwarka, and ends near NH-8 in Gurugram near the Kherki Daula toll plaza.

"Minor works such as the installation of street lights, tiles, and thermoplastic road marking are yet to be done. This would not take over 15 days, and the tentative date for the inauguration is either February-end or within the first two weeks of March,” writes Indian Express, quoting Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav.

Part of the Bharatmala project, Dwarka Expressway — the country’s first elevated one — is being built as a bypass to decongest the NH8 between Delhi and Gurugram at a cost of nearly Rs 9,000 crore.

This eight-lane access-controlled expressway spans 18.9 kilometres in Haryana and the remaining 10.1 kilometres in Delhi. A substantial section, covering 23 kilometres, will be elevated, complemented by a 3.6-kilometre eight-lane tunnel.

Touted as the country's longest and widest urban road tunnel, this tunnel promises to reduce travel time from Dwarka to IGI Airport Terminal 3 to just five minutes.

The expressway is divided into four packages: the first stretch runs from Shiv Murti near Mahipalpur to Dwarka; the second extends from Dwarka Urban Extension Road (UER) to Bajghera; the third encompasses the route from Bajghera to Basai rail overbridge (at the Delhi-Haryana border); and the fourth package runs from Basai ROB to Kherki Daula.

The Gurugram segment of the highway features a cloverleaf interchange connecting the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway (NH-48) and the Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) near Kherki Daula.

While the new expressway will cut travel time to the airport for residents of Haryana and West Delhi, it would provide direct access to the upcoming India International Convention Centre in Dwarka Sector 25.

The work on the expressways' Delhi portion would take a few months to be completed, he said.