NOIDA: In an attempt to provide smooth access to commuters travelling between Noida and Delhi and to improve connectivity for areas along the Noida-Greater Noida expressway, the Noida Authority has planned a new underpass. The proposed underpass will be constructed to connect sectors 44 and 126. Having been vetted by IIT-Delhi, the underpass will be constructed using pushback technology so that there is least disruption of traffic movement. Tenders for the project have been initiated on Wednesday and the contractor for the project will be finalized on April 26.

According to officials, the underpass will be abutted by sector 44 on one side and sectors 125 and 126 on the other. Its length will be about 500-600 meters and it is proposed to have 4-lanes. To come at a cost of Rs 95 crore, work on the four-lane underpass is expected to start next month. Once the construction commences, work is likely to be completed by November 2017.

"Once in place the underpass is expected cut travel time between Noida and Delhi," said an Authority official. The project is expected to reduce the distance to Delhi by about 7 kms. Currently commuters travelling from sectors 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 96, 97, 98, 99, etc need to take a detour and travel up to sector 105. Even though there is an underpass between sectors 97 and 127, since it is very narrow, only light motor vehicles and two-wheelers can use it. School buses and bigger vehicles cannot use the facility and have to take a longer route to travel to Delhi via Okhla barrage. This leads to traffic congestion along the e-way as well as on the Mahamaya flyover. "The aim is not only to do away with the detour but also remove gridlocks between Noida and Delhi," the official said. ""With scores of IT companies and schools and a university in the vicinity, there was a dire need for the facility here,"" official said.

Meanwhile, Noida Authority is also planning on widening of the existing five underpasses along the 23-km long expressway. A survey has been carried out for the purpose and in the first phase, the underpass between sectors 97 and 127 will be widened. Later underpasses located near sectors 108,128, 135,137, 144,161 and 149 will also be tackled. The height of the underpasses will also be increased besides widening. Work on these will be done using the push-back technology so that the traffic along the e-way is not affected during the revamp, officials said.