Link road for 2 highways set to open

On Feb 19, 2016

Ghaziabad: A 3.59-km link road connecting the two national highways, NH-24 and NH-58, is expected to be operational by March.

According to GDA officials, the civic agency has completed its share of the work and is waiting for the railways to complete construction of the rail overbridge (ROB). When it turns operational, the stretch is expected to decongest GT Road, Mohan Nagar T-point and the Vaishali-Mohan Nagar link road.

“We have completed our part of the work on the 3.59-km link road except for a 128-metre portion in the middle where an ROB is being made by the railways,” said Chakresh Jain, executive engineer, GDA. “In fact, 1.45km of the stretch from the Pratap Vihar side is already in use,” Jain said. “We are in talks with the railways on the progress of the work and have been assured by them that their work is in the final phase and would be over by March,” Jain said.

Work on the link road began in 2013 and the deadline was December 2015 but construction of the ROB delayed the project.

Giving reasons for the railway overbridge project delay, a senior railway officer said the ROB fell on the Howrah-Kanpur-Delhi section where nearly 300 trains pass every day. “The challenge is to continue with the ROB construction work without disturbing rail traffic and that delayed the project,” he said.

The estimated cost of the project was Rs 160 crore but owing to delay, the cost has risen by 12% of the estimated cost. “Out of Rs 160 crore, the central government has promised Rs 90 crore which was meant for two other projects as well. Out of that amount, Rs 40 crore has been released,” Jain said. “We have given the railways Rs 37 crore for building the ROB,” Jain said.

The link road is going to be a six-lane one with a width of 24 metres. On NH-24 the road starts at Pratap Vihar water treatment plant and ends at Meerut T-point on NH-58. Together with the elevated road, the link road is the second most important project undertaken by GDA with a view to decongesting the city’s roads.

Link road for 2 highways set to open