20 minutes journey on the track at Delhi-Gurgaon expressway

The dream of reaching Gurgaon from Delhi in just 20 minutes came on the floor on Wednesday with the opening of 27.7 km long Delhi-Gurgaon access-controlled expressway.

The Rs 710 crore RTR-Palam flyover, which is 2 km long was thrown open to the public after inauguration by Union Road Transport Minister T R Baalu, Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit and her Haryana counterpart Bhupinder Singh Hooda at a crowded ceremony Wednesday evening.

The Rao Tula Ram-Palam flyover was ready since December 31 and had even been unofficially inaugurated on January 14 by some angry local residents, who were fed up with the long wait for a VIP to come and cut the ribbon. Although the waiting was for a VIP opening and the tolling system to be in place, but the reasons of safety pertaining to the entire stretch were cited for the delay.

This was courage shown by some common people that resulted into the unofficial symbolic opening and sending out a clear message to politicians that politicians are elected by the people for the people and not for neglecting them.

This novel form of protest caught the imagination of people living in Gurgaon and elsewhere and its echo even heard in Noida, where people inaugurated a flyover, which was also waiting for long for the VIP to come and cut the ribbon. This pressures that building up since January 14 led to the opening of the flyover and the entire expressway on Wednesday.

On asking the delay of the opening Baalu said certain work had not been completed by December-end. "Before opening the stretch, we needed to ensure everything was in place and safety issues were addressed. Our department secretary and other officials visited the corridor, including the flyover Tuesday and gave us a satisfactory report. We hope people enjoy the ride," the minister added. He denied that non-availability of VIPs was ever an issue.

Commuters are now using the 8 lanes freeway. The formal inauguration took place at 4 pm (IST) on Wednesday evening. It will cut down travel time to and from Delhi's airport, as well as from Delhi to Gurgaon.

The journey time between Delhi and Gurgaon has been reduced significantly to just about 25 minutes for about 1.5 lakh vehicles runs on the expressway daily.

The project is implemented on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. The concessionaire for 20 years that comprises the construction period will maintain the facility.

The toll tax will be collected at three locations with discounted rates for local personal traffic and local commercial traffic.

Experts feel the rush of traffic from the main expressway is considerably more in comparison with the space provided at the exits. Some people said that exit should be wider.

Similarly, some accounts the other negative side of this long expressway that there are very few under-passes or over-bridges to allow pedestrians to cross the roads, which is without red lights.

The speed limit on the expressway is fixed at 80 km per hour, which would enable traffic to flow freely and speedy to support the nearly seven-lakh motorists travel daily from Delhi to Gurgaon.