The 91.35 km long Gorakhpur Link Expressway in Uttar Pradesh has reached overall progress of 52 per cent.
While clearing and grubbing (C&G) in the main carriageway has completed 100 per cent of the work, earthwork in the main carriageway has reached 75 per cent of the completion level.
Granular Sub Base (GSB) and Wet Mix Macadam (WMM) works on the expressway have reached 50 per cent and 46 per cent, respectively.
Also, Dense Bituminous Macadam (DBM) work has reached 43 per cent, and 289 out of 337 structures on the expressway are complete.
The Gorakhpur Link Expressway begins at Jaitpur in Gorakhpur district, and it ends by merging with the Purvanchal expressway near Salarpur in Azamgarh district.
This expressway will be four lanes (expandable up to six lanes) with six lane-wide structures and passes through Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Ambedkarnagar, and Sant Kabir Nagar districts.
The approved project cost for this expressway, including land cost, is Rs 5,876 crore.
While APCO Infrastructure Pvt Ltd is developing Package-1 of this project, Package-2 is undertaken by DilipBuildcont. Work on this expressway is under progressing since February 2020.
Gorakhpur, located in the Northeastern part of Uttar Pradesh, is the seat of ancient Goraksha peeth, which CM Yogi Adityanath currently heads. In the UP assembly elections held in 2022, CM Yogi got elected as an MLA from Gorakhpur.
Being the seat of power for CM Yogi Adityanath, Gorakhpur has received special attention in infrastructure development.
Besides the Gorakhpur link expressway, the Yogi Adityanth-led state government also plans another link road to connect Gorakhpur with Varanasi.
Also, Gorakhpur may become the significant node for another expressway as plans are afoot to build a greenfield expressway from Gorakhpur to Siliguri in West Bengal, passing through districts in north Bihar.