NH-24: 20km stretch to be widened
NOIDA: After a delay of almost five years, the Uttar Pradesh government has granted a green signal to the proposed widening of NH-24. In a meeting held last Thursday, the authorities sanctioned the widening of the 20-km stretch of NH-24 to improve connectivity between Delhi and parts of Ghaziabad and Noida. Work has now begun on widening the existing 4-lane stretch between Uttar Pradesh border and Dasna to eight lanes, including a service lane on either side.
Although the first proposal in this regard was made in early 2006, it never took off. Since then, residents and regular commuters on the stretch kept making persistent demands for the revival of the project. The authorities finally granted an approval to begin work last week. The project cost, however, has escalated from about Rs 20 crore to over Rs 200 crore now. The Ghaziabad authority has asked the Noida Authority to bear about one-third of the total cost since the widening work will ease considerable traffic flow on the 4.6 km stretch between Noida Model Town Chowk and UP Gate.
The delay in implementation of the widening work has also resulted in several traffic bottlenecks and major traffic jams on the stretch. On an average, around 70,000 vehicles ply each day on this stretch. "The expansion of NH-24 is of utmost importance. Given the traffic load on the stretch, the widening work will be supervised constantly to avoid any further delay. The Ghaziabad Development Authority has already released a part of its share of funds for the work and Noida Authority is in the process of releasing funds," said District Magistrate, Deepak Aggarwal.
Currently, the four-lane road from UP gate to Dasna is one of the most congested NH corridors. Once the widening work is completed, this stretch will become almost signal-free. The authorities have also decided to keep it toll free considering that a large section of the traffic using this stretch is local.
Source: Times Of India - NH-24: 20km stretch to be widened
Although the first proposal in this regard was made in early 2006, it never took off. Since then, residents and regular commuters on the stretch kept making persistent demands for the revival of the project. The authorities finally granted an approval to begin work last week. The project cost, however, has escalated from about Rs 20 crore to over Rs 200 crore now. The Ghaziabad authority has asked the Noida Authority to bear about one-third of the total cost since the widening work will ease considerable traffic flow on the 4.6 km stretch between Noida Model Town Chowk and UP Gate.
The delay in implementation of the widening work has also resulted in several traffic bottlenecks and major traffic jams on the stretch. On an average, around 70,000 vehicles ply each day on this stretch. "The expansion of NH-24 is of utmost importance. Given the traffic load on the stretch, the widening work will be supervised constantly to avoid any further delay. The Ghaziabad Development Authority has already released a part of its share of funds for the work and Noida Authority is in the process of releasing funds," said District Magistrate, Deepak Aggarwal.
Currently, the four-lane road from UP gate to Dasna is one of the most congested NH corridors. Once the widening work is completed, this stretch will become almost signal-free. The authorities have also decided to keep it toll free considering that a large section of the traffic using this stretch is local.
Source: Times Of India - NH-24: 20km stretch to be widened