Loop interchange The eight-lane road will come up near Alipur; likely to become operational by September 2021.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is constructing an eight-lane interchange to connect the Badshahpur-Sohna Road, also called the Gurgaon-Sohna Road, with the under-construction Delhi-Vadodara Expressway.
The expressway is an alternative to the existing high-stakes Delhi-Mumbai National Corridor (NH-8 section of the Golden Quadrilateral), which is touted to accelerate development of smart cities along its length of 1,320 km.
The interchange, which will come up near Alipur in Sohna—from where the Delhi-Vadodara Expressway will start—is likely to become operational by September 2021, officials familiar with the matter said Monday.
“The connectivity between the two highways will ensure commuters don’t get stuck in (local traffic) anywhere. It will provide connectivity between Delhi-Vadodara expressway and Badshahpur-Sohna road project. Work on the Delhi-Vadodara expressway is going on in full swing and the interchange facility is likely to be completed by September 2021,” NHAI project director Suresh Kumar said.
The Badshshpur-Sohna Road project is divided into two phases; Oriental Structural Engineers Pvt Ltd is responsible for the stretch from Rajiv Chowk till Badshapur (6-km), while HG Infrastructure is carrying out construction work between Badshapur to Sohna (12.62-km). The total cost of the project is ₹1,313 crore.
Work on the ₹90,000-cr (approx) Mumbai-Vadodara-Delhi Expressway project started in September 2019 and is likely to be completed by September 2022. Along with the service roads being made by the highways authority, drains are also being constructed along the expressway.
NHAI officials also said that the Badshapur-Sohna road is also being widened to offer signal-free commute to the inter-state traffic.
“For those who want to go to Vadodara from Gurugram/Delhi can take the service road. Commuters coming from Sohna and going towards the Vadodara expressway can take the interchange and go on to the expressway,” said PR Choudhary, team leader for package 1 of Delhi-Vadodra Expressway.
Commuters coming from Vadodara and going towards Gurugram can do so by going through the interchange loop. The highways authority will make an uninterrupted service road on this interchange which will be eight lanes wide.
Officials added that the connecting road will not be made like a cloverleaf, like the one being constructed at the Central Peripheral Road and the Southern Peripheral Road intersection for the Dwarka Expressway.
NHAI officials said they opted for an interchange facility instead, which connects two highways in the shape of a loop, as too much land gets wasted if a cloverleaf is constructed. “The design has been made to save land as cloverleaf would have resulted in a lot of land lying waste,” Kumar said.
A new office of NHAI-Sohna will also come up on land where the interchange is being made at Alipur, officials said.
Source : HT
