Expressways in India

The Mumbai-Pune Expressway as seen from Khandala

An expressway is a controlled-access highway; it is a highway that controls entrances to it and exits from it by incorporating the design of the slip roads for entry and exit into the design of the highway itself.^[1] Access-control should not be confused with collection of toll. An expressway may be free to use and may not collect toll at all. Expressways are the highest class of roads in the Indian Road Network. These are six- or eight-lane highways with controlled-access. India has approximately 942 km expressways.

National Highway system of India consists of approximately 10,000 km (6,200 mi) of four-laned highways that collect toll from users but do not have control of access and cannot be called expressways. Currently, a massive project is underway to expand the highway network and the Government of India plans to add an additional 18,637 km (11,580 mi) of expressways to the network by the year 2022.^[2] These roads will be access-controlled roads and will feature between four and six lanes with 3,530 km (2,190 mi) km to come up by 2015. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is already in the process of preparing a draft for creation of a National Expressways Authority of India (NEAI) on the lines of NHAI.^[3]

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has proposed a green-field access-controlled Expressways network across India. Study was conducted on identifying stretches on which new expressways can be constructed. But, as of now no further action has been taken on the Indian National Expressways Network report.^[4]

Expressways

Durgapur Expressway in the Indian state of West Bengal, part of NH 2

Existing

This list includes roads without access-control. Such a road cannot be called "expressway" though the name of the road may include the word "expressway" and may be a misnomer. Such a road should be excluded from this list. Eastern and Western Express Highways in Mumbai are two examples of such roads. Ambala-Chandigarh NH is another such example as it does not have access control for entry and exit at predetermined points. As stated above, access-control is different from collection of toll.

• Ambala Chandigarh Expressway The Ambala Chandigarh Expressway is four-lane 35 km long,[1] high-traffic density corridor of Ambala-Chandigarh section (km 5.735 to km 39.960 on NH-22 and 0 km to 0.871 km on NH 21) on BOT basis, was completed in 30 months at a cost of 2.98 billion (US$55 million)[2] The expressway has been operational since December 2009 and was constructed by the GMR Group with assistance from the World Bank.

• Mumbai Pune Expressway The Mumbai-Pune Expressway is India's first six-lane, concrete, high-speed, tolled, access-controlled, 93 km (58 mi) long expressway. It connects Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, to the neighbouring educational and information technology-oriented city of Pune. With its smoothly paved concrete construction, this highway is unlike most other roads in India. This expressway offers a scenic drive between Mumbai and Pune and reduced the travel time between these two commercially important cities from 4–5 hours on the old NH4 to 2–3 hours.
  • Highway features
    • 6-lane concrete highway with 7m-wide divider. An extra lane provided on each side as a hard shoulder.
    • Separate tunnels for traffic in each direction.
    • Complete fencing to avoid humans and animals crossing the expressway.
    • No two-wheelers, three-wheelers or tractor vehicles allowed.
    • Provision of petrol pumps, motels, workshops, toilets, emergency phones, first aid, breakdown vans, etc.
    • Proposed planting of 80,000 trees along the Expressway.

• Ahmedabad Vadodara Expressway is also known as National Expressway 1 (India). It was originally planned during the 1970s, but was delayed for decades due to land-usage and political issues. These issues were resolved in the 1990s, and the expressway opened in 2004. The expressway cuts the journey between the two cities to less than 1-hour. This expressway was India's first four-lane expressway project, and includes minor bridges and canal crossings, interchanges at Nadiad and Anand, cross-drainage works, rest areas, and related structures, for a length of 95 km (59 mi).^[5][6]

• Mumbai Nashik Expressway is a 6-lane (extendable to 8 lanes), 150 km (93 mi) km long, expressway connecting Mumbai to Nashik. [2] The total cost of the project is 40 billion (US$728 million). [1] At the time when this project was awarded, it was the largest BOT road project in India. The project involves increasing the number of lanes on the 99.5 km Vadape-Gonde (Mumbai-Nasik) section of the National Highway-3 to four. It also includes an elevated corridor at Nashik, The Pimpalgaon-Nasik-Gonde road project will serve Nashik with a 6 km long elevated corridor, seven flyovers, two major bridges, six vehicular under passes, six pedestrian under passes and a subway. The project is a part of the Mumbai-Agra National Highway-3 route. The seven flyovers will ensure smooth flow of traffic towards Mumbai as well as Agra. The flyover at Pathardi will be India's longest integrated flyover. Once the construction of the elevated corridor is complete, Nashik will get India's first externally strutted segmental box girder.

• Yamuna Expressway is a 6-lane (extendable to 8 lanes), 165 km (103 mi) km long, controlled-access expressway, connecting Greater Noida with Agra in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.^[7][8] It is India's longest six-laned controlled-access expressway stretch.

• Jaipur Kishangarh Expressway is 90 km (56 mi) km (56 mi) long and part of six-lane NH8.

• Jaipur Elevated Road The project will ease traffic flow from Ajmer to Jaipur and vice-versa. The length of elevated road 8 Km. Metro will run from Sodala to Civil lines on the second level and it will have a length of 1.6 km,” he added.

• Durgapur Expressway is 65 km (40 mi) long,^[9] linking Dankuni with Memari on Grand Trunk Road, now allows fast communication between Kolkata and Durgapur.
• Guntur Vijayawada Expressway or Guntur Outer Ring Road is a 46-kilometre (29 mi), Ten-lane (6+4) ring road expressway encircling the cities of Guntur and Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh, India.^[10][11] It has a width of 120 feet that connects Guntur and Krishna districts.^[12] The work is scheduled to be completed by 2015.^[13]

Under construction

• Mumbai Nashik Expressway will be 150 km (93 mi)^[16] long and one of the most important gateways – Mumbai to Northern, Central and Eastern part of India^[17] As of 18-July-2011 the project was completed 64 km^[18][19]

• Nagpur–Aurangabad–Mumbai expressway This highway is a project connecting two major cities Nagpur & Aurangabad in Maharashtra to the capital city of Mumbai via the same link-route and in less than the distance covered by the NH 6. The new road theoretically saves 65 km distance between the two cities and the travel time of nearly one-and-half hours.[1] Though said so, ironically, if developed with 4 lane basis, as declared earlier by the State Public Works Dept., this highway can save more than 8 hrs of time between Nagpur and Mumbai, as compared to NH 6.Though approved on 23 Dec 1999,[2] its major development started in late 2002 and it is now completed almost 60%, by the end of 2011. The Aurangabad – Mumbai sector is already started with full flow of traffic, while the Nagpur – Aurangabad sector is still under construction and expected to be completed soon (by the end of 2015 ). It is expected to share the major direct road traffic between these cities, including almost 30–40% of traffic from NH 6. Proposed expressway alignment is Nagpur – (via NH7) – Butibori – (via MSH3 / NH204) – Wardha – Pulgaon – Talegaon(S) – Karanja Lad – Malegaon(Washim) –Mehkar – Sindhkhedraja – Jalna – Aurangabad – Vaijapur – Sawantsar – Pun-tamba – Zagade – Sinnar – Ghoti – (via NH 3) – Kalyan – Mumbai.

• Kundli Manesar Palwal Expressway(KMP) Delhi Western Peripheral Expressway, also known as the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) expressway, will act as a bypass for vehicles transiting Delhi and relieve Delhi of congestion of heavy night traffic. It takes off from NH1 at Kundli (Haryana), crosses NH1, NH10, NH8 and SH57 and meets NH-2 beyond Palwal. Cloverleaf flyovers are being proposed at places where the expressway crosses national highways. The construction of the six-lane 135.6 km (84.3 mi) long road is progressing at a snail's pace. The construction started in 2007 and was expected to be completed by June 2009 but is not likely to be over before 2012.

• Delhi Eastern Peripheral Expressway It will have two six-lane sections: 49 km (30 mi) long Kundli-Ghaziabad section and 56 km (35 mi) long Ghaziabad—NOIDA-Palwal section. It will take off from NH1 at 36.1 km stone at Kundli (Haryana), cross Yamuna river near Mawikalan and Hindon river near Sharfabad (both in Baghpat district, U.P.), NH-58 near Duhai, NH-24 near Dasna, NH-91 near Beel Akbarpur, again cross Yamuna near Fajjupur Khadar and meet NH-2 beyond Palwal at km 64.33 stone. The construction has not started. No contractor has been finalised.

• Pathankot Ajmer Expressway – Expressway will begin from Pathankot in Punjab and pass through Haryana and end at the Holy city of Ajmer in Rajasthan. The total length of this expressway is 600 km (372.82 mi)^[20]

• Bangalore–Mysore Infrastructure Corridor

• Ganga Expressway – This project was announced in 2007 by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati. At 1,047 km (651 mi), it will be India's longest expressway. It will link Noida, on Uttar Pradesh's western border with Delhi to Ballia, on Uttar Pradesh's eastern border with Bihar. The expressway will run along the left bank of the Ganges river, in contrast to the Grand Trunk Road which is on the right bank. The expected cost is 400 billion (US$6.5 billion). This expressway should reduce the travel time between Delhi and Varanasi to 8 hours. The project is expected to be completed in 2011.^[21] Private firms have shown their interest in the Ganga Expressway as twenty companies have placed their bids for this project.^[22]

• Upper Ganga Canal Expressway The eight-lane 150 km (93 mi)-long^[23] Upper Ganga Canal Expressway, popularly known as the Hindon Expressway, will stretch from Noida to Haridwar through Muzaffarnagar and Roorkee.^[24]
• Himalayan Expressway is a 27.5 km expressway in connecting the city of Zirakpur, Chandigarh to Parwanoo, Solan. Currently under construction.^[25] The road runs two kilometers in Punjab, 21 km in Haryana and 4.5 km in Himachal Pradesh catering to about 30,000 vehicles passing through the stretch everyday and the commuters would need to pay Rs. 21 as toll for each trip on the stretch. The bypass, cutting through the Shivaliks, is part of the 27.5 km expressway project between the two towns on NH-5.

Planned

• Agra Lucknow Expressway is an expressway scheduled to be constructed between the cities of Agra and Lucknow. Its cost of project is expected to be 105 billion (US$1.7 billion). It would cut travel time between Lucknow and Agra from 6 hours to 3:30 hours.
• Mumbai Vadodara Expressway is an expressway scheduled to be constructed between the cities of Vadodara (Gujarat) and Mumbai (Maharashtra). Its cost of the project is expected to be 66.72 billion (US$1.1 billion). The expressway will be about 380 km long. It will be built as part of the Golden Quadrilateral Project by NHAI.
• Chennai Outer Ring Road is a second Chennai ring to complement the existing facility.
• Shimla Chandigarh Expressway s a proposed 120 kilometres long expressway connecting Chandigarh to Shimla.

NHAI has proposed the following two Expressways in the NHDP VI.

• Bangalore Chennai Expressway
• Kolkata-Dhanbad expressway

The Uttar Pradesh government is planning five more expressways in the state. The five proposed expressways will have a combined length of around 750 km (470 mi).

The five expressways would be

• Greater Noida-Saharanpur-Dehradun expressway (in partnership with the Uttarakhand state government)
• Farrukhabad-Kotdwar expressway (in partnership with the Uttarakhand state government)
• Delhi-Meerut expressway.
• Chennai HSCTC
• Chennai Elevated Expressways
• Bhopal - Indore expressway
• Vijayawada ORR is an expressway proposed for the capital of Andhra Pradesh surrounding Vijayawada city of 181 Kilometers in length. Expressway covers Guntur-Tenali-Vuyyuru-Hanuman Junction-Nuzvid-Mylavaram-Paritala-Amaravathi making it the longest ORR in South India. Capital region is still planned to expand upto Eluru city on north and Machilipatnam in the east

Intra-city expressways (access-controlled Bypasses, Ring roads and Elevated Roads)

Existing

• Delhi Gurgaon Expressway – This eight-lane expressway opened in January 2008 and is part of Golden Quadrilateral highway project. It is 28 km (17 mi) long and was expected to reduce travel time between Gurgaon and Delhi from upwards of 60 minutes to approximately 20 minutes. However, long queues of vehicles at toll plaza have reduced the efficacy of the expressway. Some special features of this expressway are SOS telephones every 1.5 km, CCTV surviliance and a 32-lane toll plaza at the Delhi-Haryana border. The expressway starts near the domestic terminal of the airport at Palam, has an exit for the international airport and ends beyond Gurgaon where it joins the six-lane NH8 after the toll plaza.

• Noida Greater Noida Expressway connects Noida, a residential and industrial suburb of Delhi to Greater Noida, a still newer suburb. The total length of the expressway is 24.53 km (15.24 mi). It is under expansion to Taj Economic Zone, International Airport and Aviation Hub proposed to be constructed along the Taj Expressway. The objectives of the proposed expressway are as follows:
  • Highway features
    • To provide a fast moving corridor to minimize the travel time
    • To connect the main town ships / commercial centers on the Eastern site of river Yamuna
    • To ensure development of adjoining area
    • To relieve pressure on NH2 that is already congested and runs through the heart of cities like Faridabad, Ballabhgarh and Palwal.

• Delhi Noida Direct Flyway is an eight-lane, 9.2 km (5.7 mi) km^[26] access controlled tolled expressway which connects Delhi with Noida. It was built under a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model. The project included the construction of a flyover at Ashram Chowk. The other major part of the project was the construction of a 552.5 m (1,813 ft) bridge over the Yamuna river. This bridge, which was estimated to cost 4.08 billion (US$66.1 million).

• Belghoria Expressway through Nivedita Bridge is completed Dum Dum Airport will be 20–25 minutes from Dankuni.^[27]

• Panipat Elevated Expressway six-lane 10 km (6.2 mi) expressway is expected to decongest the busy Delhi-Amritsar route.^[28] The Panipat Expressway is an uplift of National Highway 1.

• Kona Expressway is 8 km (5.0 mi) long and serves as cut-offs and provides easier access to Kolkata from NH-2.^[9]

• Hyderabad Elevated Expressways – The PVNR Expressway has been opened for traffic at the end points on 2009-10-19. The 11.6 km (7.2 mi)^[29] is the India's longest flyover that connects Mehdipatnam in the city to Aramgarh Junction on the National Highway-7 leading to the Hyderabad International Airport at Shamshabad^[30]

• Hosur Road Elevated Expressway – is a 9.985 km (6.204 mi) kilometres (6 mi) long elevated, tolled, access controlled expressway in the city of Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The project is a part of the BETL (Bangalore Elevated Tollways Ltd), project as part of the National Highways Development Project and the Elevated Highways Project. It was initiated in early 2006, and was inaugurated on 22 January 2010.^[31]

• Chennai Bypass Expressway is a fully access-controlled expressway that interconnects four radial Indian National Highways around Chennai, India covering a distance of 32 km (20 mi). Constructed as part of the National Highway Development Project to decongest the city of transiting vehicles, the expressway interconnects NH45, NH4, NH205 and NH5. This expressway now forms a part of the circular transportation corridor.

Under Construction

• Western Freeway Mumbai is an ambitious project to connect the suburbs of Mumbai with downtown Mumbai. The project envisions the setting up of multiple flyovers over the Arabian Sea. The first phase of the project, known as the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, is complete, and links Bandra in the north with Worli to the south with a cable stayed bridge spanning the Mahim Bay. This development shall relieve the congestion on the Mahim Causeway, which up until now has been the only road connection between the suburbs and the main city of Mumbai on the western sea front. Toll will be Rs. 50(one way),Rs. 75(two way) for cars and Rs. 100 for heavy vehicles.

• Eastern Freeway Mumbai project (EFP) to provide a direct link to the Eastern Express Highway and south Mumbai.^[32] The Eastern Freeway will be a 22 km (14 mi) high-speed corridor from Prince of Wales Museum up to Eastern Express Highway at Wadala through 12 km (7.5 mi) of relatively less-congested roads of the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) area.^[33] Of this, 9 km (5.6 mi) will be elevated. The expressway will drastically reduce travel time between Colaba in South Mumbai and the eastern suburbs like Ghatkopar and Mulund. Work on this freeway started in January 2008 and is scheduled to complete in five years.^[34]
• Chennai Port - Maduravoyal Expressway The Chennai Port – Maduravoyal Expressway is a proposed 19 kilometres (12 mi) elevated expressway in the city of Chennai, India. The corridor begins at Chennai Port Gate no. 10 and travels along the bank of the Cooum River till it reaches Koyambedu and along the median of NH4 thereon till it reaches Maduravoyal.

Planned

Guntur-Vijayawada ORR

Gallery

Kona Expressway connecting Kolkata  Mumbai Nashik Expressway  Mumbai Nashik Expressway  The Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway  The Delhi-Noida section of the Delhi-Noida-Greater Noida expressway  A stretch of the Ahmedabad-Vadodara expressway  Mumbai-Pune Expressway  A section of the Golden Quadrilateral between Bengaluru and Chennai  A view of Delhi-Gurgaon stretch of National Highway – 8 (NH-8). The 8-lane expressway connects Delhi to Gurgaon and IGIA

References and notes

^ "Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway". Times of India. 2010-08-18. Retrieved 19 August 2010.

Indian Highways Network National Expressways NE 1 NE 2 State Expressways Mumbai-Pune Ambala-Chandigarh Delhi-Gurgaon Delhi-Faridabad Kundli–Manesar–Palwal Faridabad-NOIDA-Ghaziabad Kalyani Expressway DND Flyway Bengaluru-Mysore Chennai HSCTC Hyderabad Elevated Expressways Belghoria Expressway Yamuna Expressway National Highways 1 1A 1B 1C 1D 2 2A 3 4 4A 4B 5 5A 6 7 7A 8 8A 8B 8C 8D 8E 9 10 11 11A 11B 12 12A 13 14 15 16 17 17A 17B 18 19 20 21 21A 22 23 24 24A 24B 25 25A 26 26A 26B 27 28 28A 28B 28C 29 30 30A 31 31A 31B 31C 31D 32 33 34 35 36 37 37A 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 44A 45 45A 45B 45C 46 47 47A 47B 47C 48 49 50 51 52 52A 52B 53 54 54A 55 56 57 57A 58 59 59A 60 60A 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 69A 70 71 71A 71B 72 72A 73 73A 74 75 76 77 78 79 79A 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 86A 87 88 89 90 91 91A 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 116 116B 117 119 121 123 125 127 129 150 151 152 153 154 155 163 200 201 202 203 203A 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 214A 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 226 227 228 229 231 232 233A 233B 234 235 State Highways Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Odisha Puducherry Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Telangana Tripura Uttarakhand Uttar Pradesh West Bengal Notable National Highways Development Project Golden Quadrilateral North–South and East–West Corridor Arunachal Frontier Highway