Reaching Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport from Noida will now become much easier following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inauguration of two major road projects: the Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) and the Delhi section of the Dwarka Expressway worth a total of nearly `11,000 crore on Sunday. Together, these new stretches are expected to reduce travel time from Noida to IGI Airport to just 20 minutes. Once completed, the projects will also help reduce traffic on inner roads, easing pressure on NH-48, NH-44, Ring Roads, and the Barapullah elevated corridor.
The Prime Minister’s Office said on Saturday that the projects, the Delhi section of the Dwarka Expressway and the Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II), have been developed under the comprehensive plan to decongest the capital. The new stretches are expected to vastly improve connectivity, cut travel time, and reduce traffic in Delhi and its surrounding areas.
The statement said, “These initiatives reflect Prime Minister Modi’s vision of creating world-class infrastructure that enhances ease of living and ensures seamless mobility.”
The 10.1km-long Delhi section of the Dwarka Expressway has been developed at a cost of around ` 5,360 crore. The section will also provide multi-modal connectivity to Yashobhoomi, DMRC Blue line and Orange line, the upcoming Bijwasan railway station and the Dwarka cluster bus depot, it said.This project comprises a 5.9 km-section, from Shiv Murti intersection to the Road Under Bridge (RUB) at Dwarka Sector-21 and a 4.2km-section from the RUB to the Delhi-Haryana border, providing direct connectivity to Urban Extension Road-II.
The 19 km-long Haryana section of the Dwarka Expressway was inaugurated by Modi in March 2024, the statement added.
On Sunday, PM Modi will also inaugurate the Alipur to Dichaon Kalan stretch of Urban Extension Road-II, along with new links to Bahadurgarh and Sonipat, built at a cost of around Rs 5,580 crore. The Prime Minister is expected to inspect both projects, starting with the Dwarka Expressway and then proceeding via UER-II road towards Rohini. He will also address a public gathering.
The project will ease traffic on Delhi’s inner and outer Ring Roads and busy points like Mukarba Chowk, Dhaula Kuan, and NH-09. The new spurs will give direct access to Bahadurgarh and Sonipat, improve industrial connectivity, cut city traffic, and speed up goods movement in the national capital region, it said.
UER-II: The 75.71 km UER-II road has been developed in five packages at a cost of Rs 6,445 crore, with 54.21 km in Delhi and 21.50 km in Haryana. Once operational, it will enable residents of Gurugram, west, and south Delhi to reach NH-44, Chandigarh, Punjab, and Jammu & Kashmir faster, bypassing congestion at Dhaula Kuan and Delhi’s ring roads.
According to the National Highways Authority of India, UER-II was planned under the Delhi Master Plan 2021 and spans 54 kilometres in Delhi and about 21 kilometres in Haryana. The expressway features eight lanes, service roads, four multi-level interchanges and several underpasses.
Future connectivity: Connecting UER-II to the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, starting near Akshardham temple, will provide faster routes for traffic from Haryana and Rajasthan heading towards Dehradun. Another 65 km highway from Tronica City to the under-construction FNG Expressway has been approved. This highway will link five major expressways in the NCR: Delhi-Dehradun, Delhi-Meerut, Noida-Greater Noida, DND-Faridabad, and Yamuna Expressways.
The NCT of Delhi is a massive metropolitan area where five national highways ( NH-1, 2, 38, 310 and 324) converge. Delhi has over 10 million registered vehicles and faces a major challenge to curb severe traffic congestion and rising air pollution.