Travelling from Delhi to Chandigarh and beyond has now become seamless with the centre inaugurating 11 flyovers on the Delhi-Panipat stretch of National Highway-44.
The travel time has now reduced by one hour for the straight going traffic as the main eight-lane corridor has been completed.
The construction of 11 flyovers on eight-lane NH-44 from Delhi to Panipat in Sonepat at a cost of Rs 890 crore, with a total length of 24 km, is expected to provide better connectivity to the economic nodes of Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
This highway from Delhi to Panipat will connect agricultural areas with industrial areas facilitating the transportation of goods and final products. The Delhi-Panipat corridor will ease the movement of tourists going to and from Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
Inaugurating the flyovers on Tuesday (20 June), Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said, “This project faced several challenges. First, the highway developer, which had bagged the project, failed. The NHAI subsequently brought in a new player, but then it could not carry out work for nearly one-and-half years due to farmer agitation.”
He further said, “Now the main carriageway is fully complete. Considering the demand we have widened the two-lane service roads on each side to three-lane. So, now we have a 14-land road for traffic heading towards Chandigarh and beyond. This will bring huge relief to commuters and local traffic.”
Officials said the majority of the service lane related work has been completed and the remaining will be over in the next one month. The stretch between Delhi’s Mukarba Chowk and Sonipat has been a major issue for the NHAI.
“Earlier one would spend nearly two-and-a-half hours from Mukarba Chowk to Sonipat, but now this stretch can be covered in one-and-a-half hours. We have been allowing traffic on the stretches which got completed during this period,” said an official.
Gadkari said the completion of under construction projects such as the Urban Extension Road-II will further improve the connectivity in the region and particularly to the Indira Gandhi International Airport from Haryana.
Gadkari also inaugurated and laid foundation stone of four National Highway projects at Sonepat, Karnal and Ambala in Haryana worth Rs 3,835 crore.