The Dwarka Expressway, also known as the Northern Peripheral Road in the Haryana portion, is being developed as the first elevated urban expressway in India and will be operational in 2023, according to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.

In a series of tweets, he said Dwarka Expressway will reduce pressure on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway (part of the Delhi-Jaipur-Ahmedabad-Mumbai arm of the Golden Quadrilateral) and arterial roads that experience severe traffic congestion, primarily from the commuters of West Delhi.

He said 50%-60% of the traffic on NH-8 will be diverted onto the new expressway, thereby improving traffic movement towards Sohna Road, Golf Course Road, and air extension. Once operational, it shall immensely help reduce the air pollution in Delhi-NCR as well, he added.

Gadkari said the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is actively prioritising the development of world-class infrastructure across all the corners of the country and paving the path for ‘Prosperity through Connectivity’.

The minister said it is a 16-lane access-controlled highway with a provision of a minimum 3-lane service road on both sides.

The Expressway, connecting Dwarka in Delhi to Gurugram in Haryana, is being developed at a total cost of Rs 9,000 crore with a total length of 29 km out of which 19 km length falls in Haryana while the remaining 10 km of length is in Delhi.

Gadkari said the Dwarka Expressway would have 4 multi-level interchanges (tunnel/underpasses, at-Grade Road, Elevated Flyover & Flyover above Flyover) at major junctions including the construction of the longest (3.6 km) and widest (8 lanes) urban road tunnel in India. The expressway begins from Shiv-Murti on NH-8 (Delhi-Gurugram expressway) and ends near Kherki Daula Toll Plaza, through Dwarka Sector 21, Gurugram border, and Basai, he added.

The minister said the development of this prestigious project plays a pivotal role in the plan to decongest the capital city of Delhi. Once the Dwarka Expressway is completed, it would provide direct access to the upcoming India International Convention Centre (IICC) in Sector 25 of Dwarka and will also provide alternate connectivity to the IGI Airport through the shallow tunnel.

He said the state-of-the-art Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) like Advanced Traffic Management systems, Toll Management System, CCTV Cameras, Surveillance, etc. would be part and parcel of this upcoming world-class corridor.

Gadkari said the Dwarka Expressway will have a massive feat of tree transplantation with 12,000 trees transplanted. He said the project is also an engineering ace that includes a 34-meter wide 8-lane highway, a first of its kind being constructed on a single pier.

The project is estimated to consume 2 lakh MT of steel (30 times of steel used in Eiffel Tower) and 20 lakh cum of concrete (6 times of concrete used in Burj Khalifa) for its construction.