Watch the video: With the new Expressway you can travel from Delhi to Meerut in just 45 minutes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 27 inaugurated the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. The expressway is expected to bring down the time to commute between national capital and Meerut to 45 minutes. The first phase of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway cost Rs 842 crore on building the 9-km stretch of 14-lane highway, according to an advertisement released by the government on the project. The total cost of the project on completion would be Rs 7,500 crore. This is the first bridge in the country that have vertical gardens with solar power system and drip irrigation. The total length of the project is 82 km, of which the first 27.74 kms will be 14-laned, while the rest will be a six-lane expressway. A cycle track that is 2.5 metre wide, on the nearly 28-km stretch between Delhi and Dasna, has also been constructed on both the sides of this expressway. There is provision of 1.5 metre footpath on each side for pedestrians. 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. The scheduled time period for the construction of this project was 30 months whereas the project has been completed in 17 months.