NHAI to develop four-lane Hapur-Meerut road to take pressure off new expressway

GHAZIABAD: Anticipating congestion once all phases of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) are opened for traffic, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is developing a portion of NH-235 so that it can serve as an alternative route to the Hapur-Meerut stretch of the high-speed corridor. By October-end, work will be completed, officials said.
“The vehicular load on the DME and NH-9 is expected to increase on the completion of the expressway.So, an alternative route to Meerut from Hapur, which falls on NH-235, is being developed,” said RP Singh, NHAI project director.

“The entire NH-235 is a 60km-long stretch connecting Bulandshahr to Meerut via Hapur, and NHAI is spending Rs 868 crore to strengthen the stretch of which 30km Hapur to Meerut section is a part of it. The 30km portion, which will connect Hapur to Meerut, would be a four-lane stretch and we hope to complete it by October-end,” he said.
Explaining the importance of an alternative route to the Hapur-Meerut stretch of the DME, Singh said that Meerut-bound commuters from Delhi will take the DME from Sarai Kale Khan to Dasna in Ghaziabad before commencing on the 30km route to Merrut. “A commuter heading towards Merrut will also have the option to take NH-235 from Hapur,” he said.
TOI had on Saturday reported that NHAI might miss its December deadline to complete the Dasna to Meerut stretch of the DME as work on a 4km stretch of the 31km corridor has not yet begun due to an ongoing probe into a land scam. The problem stems from the fact that the Ghaziabad district administration has initiated an investigation after it came to light that some officials who were in the know of things before the announcement of the DME project purchased land in the name of their relatives at low rates from local farmers and subsequently sold the same to the state government at higher rates.
The 14-lane DME is divided into two parts — there are three lanes on either side (total six), which is called the DME, and eight lanes in the middle, which is called NH-9. The expressway will do away with 31 traffic signals on the Delhi-Meerut road, the busiest highway in the region, and make it signal-free.