Travelers will soon be able to cut their journey from Delhi to Dehradun to just 2.5 hours with the upcoming Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, set to open next year. Currently, the drive takes around 5.5 to 6 hours.

Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, announced on X that the new expressway will also shorten the trip from Delhi to Haridwar to just 2 hours, down from 5 hours.

The Delhi-Dehradun Expressway is expected to open in December, with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) aiming to complete it by then. The link to Haridwar is projected to be finished by May 2025, according to The Times of India.

The 264-kilometer expressway, which includes a connection to Haridwar, represents a significant investment of approximately Rs 14,285 crore, funded entirely by the government. Key features of the project include Asia’s longest elevated wildlife corridor, spanning 12 kilometers, and an animal underpass to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts in the Rajaji National Park and Shiwalik Reserve forest areas.

The first segment of the expressway runs from Akshardham in Delhi to the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) interchange, passing through areas such as Geeta Colony, Shastri Park, Sonia Vihar in Delhi, and Vijay Vihar, Kasim Vihar, and Mandola in Uttar Pradesh. This segment is expected to ease daily traffic congestion for many commuters.

The expressway will feature a 32-kilometer access-controlled section, including 19 kilometers of elevated roadway designed for through traffic, with a six-lane service road below for local traffic. Entry points for vehicles traveling from Delhi to Uttar Pradesh will be at Akshardham, Geeta Colony, Shamshan Ghat (Kailash Nagar), Sonia Vihar, Vijay Vihar, and Mandola, with exits at Khajuri Chowk, Sonia Vihar, Vijay Vihar, and Mandola. For traffic from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi, entry points will be at Mandola, Vijay Vihar, and 5th Pusta, with exits at Mandola, Loni, Vijay Vihar, Usmanpur, Shamshan Ghat (Kailash Nagar), Geeta Colony, and Akshardham.