A Complete and revised survey on the proposed Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway has revealed that nearly 35,000 vehicles would pass over this 135-km stretch after it would be laid completely by the end of 2009. The figure was initially assessed to be 30,000 vehicles, but increasing pressure on the road and various government development plans alongside the road had led to a revision in the number of vehicles.
The prestigious global corridor being developed to ease pressure on Delhi roads would provide direct access to vehicles to Gurgaon, Faridabad, Rajasthan and UP without crossing Delhi. It is being built by a special project vehicle KMP Expressway in collaboration with the Haryana Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) at a cost of Rs 1,915 crore. Sources said with the pace of work slowing down, the road may not be complete within the deadline. The project had been marred in controversy because of a dispute between the developer companies, but it finally took off a few months ago when it declared financial closure to start work on the road.
It is also expected to cater to the needs of the villagers and farmers traveling on the road. In view of this, the final design of the the high-speed expressway has provisions for more than 33 agriculture vehicular underpasses and 31 special cattle crossings on the expressway. The expressway, besides providing a fast lane vehicular service to heavy vehicles plying on the road, would also cater to the transportation facilities of 64 villages situated alongside this road.
As per final scheme of things, it would have a crossing on an average distance of 700 metres besides crossing four major district roads of Faridabad, Gurgaon, Sonepat and Jhajjar.
The new expressway would encircle Delhi on the western side to provide direct access from this part of the region to Gurgaon, Faridabad, UP and Rajasthan and would interconnect four national highways -- NH-I at Kundli (Sonepat), NH-10 at Bahadurgarh, NH-VIII at Manesar (Gurgaon) and NH-II at Palwal (Faridabad). It would also cross seven state highways, four major district roads and 104 other villages and other panchayat roads. The expressway would also cross four railway lines and 18 irrigation projects.
This would also have three major grid separators to provide speedy connectivity to traffic on all the national highway intersections at Kundli, Manesar and Bahadurgarh. These separators would have large interchanges with main routes, slip roads and side lanes for local as well as long-route vehicles.
From: The Indian Express, March-10-08
