Gurugram, Sep 16 (IANS): A U-turn underpass at the Delhi-Gurugram border on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway (NH 48) will be opened on October 15, 2021.

This was announced by Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari at an event during the inspection of the Delhi-Mumbai expressway on Thursday.

The completion of the underpass on the Expressway will allow commuters from Gurugram to take a u-turn to go towards Ambience Mall and DLF Phase 3 without having to travel to Rajokri in Delhi.

The original deadline for the completion of the underpass was September 4 last year. The project was delayed due to a ban on construction imposed by the Supreme Court in November 2019 to curb air pollution and lockdown imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The length of the u-turn underpass is 377 metres, while the entire stretch, including access road, is 1.5 kilometres. The service roads are 559 metres long and 7 metres wide.

The project was sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways with the construction cost-sharing in the ratio of 75:25 between NHAI and the Government of Haryana, DLF, Ambience Mall and Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) including the land cost.

Union Minister said, "This U-turn underpass will provide relief from the traffic congestion. The BJP government worked on several projects in Gurugram to make the city free of traffic jams, some of which have been completed and construction work on some others is in progress".

"The total height with Vertical Clearance has been kept five and a half meters. LED lights will be installed for proper lightning inside the underpass. Along with this, the plantation will be done between Signage Board and Dividers in the Underpass under the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) rules," said an NHAI official.