Uttar Pradesh has moved closer to building a 74-km link road that will join the Yamuna Expressway with the Ganga Expressway, with the Uttar Pradesh Expressway Industrial Development Authority inviting bids to appoint developers for the first two phases of the work, The Statesman reported.
Officials said the selected developer will handle design, engineering, procurement and construction of the corridor, besides maintaining it through a defect liability period lasting five years.
Pegged at roughly Rs 8,586 crore, the six-lane access-controlled highway is scheduled for completion in three years and has been planned in a way that allows widening to eight lanes later.
A senior official said Rs 250 crore has been earmarked for the project in the supplementary budget. The state cabinet cleared the alignment recently.
The primary purpose, according to officials, is to give western Uttar Pradesh a quick and direct road route to the Noida International Airport, easing travel for residents of districts such as Bulandshahr.
The link expressway will take off from the 24.8-km mark of the Yamuna Expressway, close to the proposed Film City in Sector 21 of YEIDA, and terminate at the 44.3-km point of the Ganga Expressway near Syana in Bulandshahr.
Land acquisition is progressing in both districts. Nearly 90 per cent of the requirement within the Yamuna Authority area has been secured, while about 23 hectares in Mehndipur and Bhaipur villages are yet to be taken over. The process continues in Bulandshahr as well.
The corridor will include seven underpasses, 11 minor bridges, three major bridges, two underpasses, a flyover and four railway overbridges.
The first phase covers about 24 km between Bhaipur Brahmanan in Greater Noida and Bichaul village in Bulandshahr, while the second stretches nearly 50 km from Bichaul to Bahanpur near Syana.
Officials said the road will also serve industrial parks and logistics clusters coming up along the two expressways, which is expected to spur commercial activity in the region.
