91 kilometer new expressway will start in UP, many districts will get silver
MR Journalist, UP: Another expressway may be inaugurated soon before the Lok Sabha elections. Gorakhpur Link Expressway is being prepared for completion next month. Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEDA) is working on war footing in this direction. According to UPEDA, the construction of the expressway has been 92 percent completed. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath can inaugurate it.
The Link Expressway was announced in 2018 and construction started in February 2019. Last year, the pace of work had slowed down due to rain and mud in July-August, but as soon as the monsoon arrived, the pace of work was increased manifold. The target of completing it was set for March but in view of the Lok Sabha elections, it can be dedicated to the public before time. The safety inspection of the expressway has been done in January which is continuing in several phases.
This 91.35 km long link expressway will start from Jaitpur village of Sadar tehsil of Gorakhpur and will meet Purvanchal Expressway at Salarpur village of Azamgarh district. This link expressway is passing through Gorakhpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar and Azamgarh. It will be connected with Varanasi through a separate link road. The distance from Gorakhpur Link Expressway to Lucknow will be reduced to three and a half hours. It just takes five hours. Link Expressway will also reduce the journey between Gorakhpur and Azamgarh, Gorakhpur and Agra and Delhi. The estimated cost of Gorakhpur Link Expressway is Rs 5876.67 crore. Currently it has four lanes, which can be expanded to six lanes.
Current status of Link Expressway
Earthwork 96% complete
Clearing and grubbing work 100% complete
Road base i.e. Granular Sub Base (GSB) 90% complete
Base layer of bitumen etc. Wet Mix Macadam (WWM) 87%
Road construction for heavy vehicles i.e. Dense Bituminous Macadam (DBM) process is also 87 percent complete.
Out of total 341, 337 structures are ready, remaining four are also in the final stage.