LUCKNOW: UP already possesses the country’s longest highway, connecting Delhi to Lucknow via the connected Yamuna Expressway and Lucknow Expressway, allowing cars to cross the 500-kilometre span in around 6 hours.
The Yogi government’s remarkable vision and pace in the previous four years on a network of greenfield highway projects has earned him the tittle “The Expressway Man.”
These roadways will boost the connection between the state capital of Lucknow and the state’s other main cities while also reducing travel time. Here are the most important details concerning the state’s four major highway projects.
Purvanchal Expressway Project
The government plans to build a massive 341-kilometer world-class motorway between Lucknow and Ghazipur. The difficulty was steep because it was a greenfield project.
The Purvanchal Expressway, which runs from village Chandsarai in Lucknow district to village Hyderia in Ghazipur district, approximately 18 kilometres from the UP-Bihar border, would become the hub of eastern UP once it is completed.
1. Lucknow, 2. Barabanki, 3. Amethi, 4. Sultanpur, 5. Ayodhya, 6. Ambedkarnagar, 7. Azamgarh, 8. Mau, and 9. Ghazipur are the nine districts. This is a world-class carriageway with six (6) lanes that can be expanded to eight (8) lanes. For emergency needs, an airstrip is being built on the expressway in Sultanpur district for the Air Force.
It’s worth noting that the development of this road has directly and indirectly employed about 9,000 people.
Bundelkhand Expressway Project
From Chitrakoot to Etawah, the Yogi government launched a 296-kilometer Bundelkhand express project, connecting the seven districts of Chitrakoot, Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Auraiya, and Etawah. This divided highway with four lanes can be expanded to six lanes.
It will link the Bundelkhand region, which is considered to be one of the most backward areas of the country with the borders of Delhi through the Agra-Lucknow Expressway and the Yamuna Expressway.
The minimum tender was reduced by roughly 12.72 percent from the expected cost thanks to a rigorous, transparent, and effective e-tendering process, resulting in a profit of about Rs 1,132 crore for the Yogi government.
In February 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lay the foundation stone for the project, which will cost Rs 15,000 crore.
“Bundelkhand will be placed on the development expressway as a result of the project. It would undoubtedly alter the lives of people around the region “PM Modi made the remarks after the expressway’s foundation was laid.
The expressway would connect the nodes of the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor, which was announced in February 2018 by the central government.
The project is expected to be completed in March of 2022. However, the Bundelkhand expressway’s main carriageway is projected to be operational by December 2021.
Gorakhpur Link Expressway Project
Gorakhpur Link, a 91.3-kilometer four-lane (expandable to six-lane) highway, will connect four districts in eastern Uttar Pradesh — Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Ambedkarnagar, and Sant Kabirnagar — to the Purvanchal Expressway.
97.18 percent of clearing and grubbing work has been finished, and 49 percent of earth work has been done as of mid-June-2021.
More over a quarter of the project’s entire physical progress has been completed. The project is expected to be finished in April of 2022.
Ganga Expressway
With a nearly 600-kilometer greenfield expressway project, the Yogi government is constructing India’s second-longest state expressway, connecting 12 UP districts — Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh, and Prayagraj.
It will be a six-lane expressway that can be expanded to eight lanes. On one side of the expressway, the width of the Right-of-Way (ROW) is intended to be 120 metres.
The Uttar Pradesh government has already acquired 93 percent of the land required for this project, or more than 6,800 hectares.
The overall cost of construction for the project’s first phase is estimated to be Rs 35,952 crore. This project will be funded in a 70:30 ratio using a combination of debt and equity.
The expressway will begin at Bujauli village in Meerut and end in Prayagraj’s Judapur Dandu hamlet.
14 main bridges, 126 minor bridges, eight road overbridges, and 18 flyovers will be built. A one-kilometer bridge will be built along the expressway across the Ganga, as well as a 720-meter bridge over the Ramganga.
A Summary Of Network Of Expressways Being Laid In UP
| Purvanchal Expressway
Length: 340.24 km Cost (including land): Rs 23,349 crore Route: From Lucknow’s Chandsarai village to Ghazipur’s Haidaria village via Barabanki, Amethi, Sultanpur, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh and Mau. Status: Finishing works in progress Bundelkhand Expressway Length: 296.07 km Cost (including land): Rs 14,894 crore Route: From Bharatkup in Chitrakoot to the Agra-Lucknow Expressway near Bewar in Etawah, through Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jalaun and Auraiya. Status: 70 per cent construction work completed Gorakhpur Link Expressway Length: 91.352 km Cost (including land): Rs 5,876.68 crore Route: Starting from Jaitpur village of the Gorakhpur bypass, ending at the Purvanchal Expressway in Azamgarh via Ambedkar Nagar and Sant Kabir Nagar. Status: 75 per cent of construction work completed Ganga Expressway Length: 596 km Cost (including land): Rs 36,230 crore Route: Starting from Qila Parikshitgarh Road in Meerut to Amroha, Bulandshahr, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Kannauj, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh to Jhunsi-Sahason Road in Prayagraj Status: 93 per cent of required land has been purchased |