Soon commuters to zoom down Delhi-Meerut Expressway at 120/100 kmph

Delhi commuters might quickly zoom down the Delhi-Meerut Expressway at 120/100 kmph as the NHAI is to write a letter to the Delhi Police for elevating the pace limits.

New Delhi:Delhi commuters travelling to Indirapuram, Greater Noida and Hindon and vice versa could soon zoom down the Delhi-Meerut Expressway at 120/100 kmph as the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is going to write a letter to the Delhi Police for raising the speed limits.

Currently, the speed limit at the expressway is 70 kmph for Light Motor Vehicle and 40 kmph for goods carrier, according to the speed limit signboards. The move is likely to provide the much-needed relief to the commuters who often complain of being issued e-challans, for driving above 60 kmph, by the Delhi Traffic Police using the over speed violation detection camera systems.

In view of the complaints being received from the general public, the traffic inspector of Kalyanpuri Circle, Delhi Police, wrote a letter to the NHAI for installation of speed limit signboards with the maximum speed of 60 kmph in September and sent a reminder after a few days, according to an RTI reply by the NHAI.

The penalty for overspeeding has been raised from Rs 400 to Rs 5,000, according to the new Motor Vehicles Act which came into effect from September 1.

In reply to the traffic inspector's letter, the NHAI wrote a letter to the Delhi Police on September 13 for upgrading the speed limit to 120/100 kmph.

According to R P Singh, General Manager (Tech)/Project Director at the NHAI Ghaziabad Project Implementation Unit (PIU) which looks after the expressway, a letter suggesting to upgrade the speed limits to 120/100 kmph for expressway portion and 70/50 kmph for the National Highway on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway would be sent to the Delhi Police Commissioner soon.

"The letter would be sent from the NHAI headquarters in Delhi. A decision to send the letter was taken during the inauguration of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway phase-3 last month," Singh told a news agency.

"Currently, we have placed signboards limiting the maximum speed to 70/40. Since the stretch, which is 8.72 km long 6-lane expressway/ 8-lane NH 24 from Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to Ghazipur border has already been completed in June 2018, the speed should be upgraded to 120/100 kmph on the expressway and 70/50 kmph on the NH as per Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRT&H) guidelines,” he said.

Previously, a letter to upgrade the speed on the expressway was sent to the Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) on September 13 by the NHAI, according to the RTI reply.

In the letter, the NHAI said the Delhi-Meerut Expressway has been designed for a speed of 120/100 kmph as per the MoRT&H guidelines through a gazette notification dated April 6, 2018.

"This expressway section is completely access controlled and barricaded by concrete crash barriers on either side.

"Being an urban stretch and other packages of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway being under construction, the speed limit signboards are placed limiting the speed limits at 70/50 kmph.

"Now this stretch has been completed on June 28, 2018, and other stretches are likely to be completed by the end of December 2019, it is suggested to upgrade the speed limits... 120/100 kmph for expressway portion and 70/50 kmph for National Highway on this Delhi-Meerut Expressway," the letter reads.

In the letter, the NHAI said that 2/3-wheelers/motorcycles/tractors/light commercial vehicles and other slow-moving vehicles, which are not permitted, are the main reasons of accidents on this section.

It also requested the Delhi Police to deploy sufficient traffic police on the expressway so that the road users follow the traffic rules for which the expressway has been designed, according to the letter written by Singh.

The 82-kilometre long expressway connects Delhi with Meerut in western Uttar Pradesh. A sum of Rs 8,346 crore is likely to be spent on the project.

The ambitious project will help in decongesting the National Capital Region (NCR) and bring a significant reduction in pollution level.

The Delhi-Meerut Expressway project is being implemented in four packages – an 8.72 km long 6-lane expressway/ 8-lane NH 24 from Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to Ghazipur border, already completed in June 2018 under Phase-I, a 19.28 km long 6-lane expressway/ 8-lane NH 24 from Ghazipur border to Dasna in UP which is 60 per cent done under Phase-II.

A 22.23 km long 6-lane NH 24 with 2+2 lane service roads on either side from Dasna to Hapur in UP was inaugurated last month under Phase-III, and 57 per cent work is done under Phase-IV of the 31.78 km long greenfield 6-lane expressway from Hapur to Meerut.