By Akanksha Arora
Good news for Delhiites as Jaipur will now be just mere 3 hours away – all thanks to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for opening a new 65-km stretch between Bagrana and Bandikui on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. The Bagrana鈥揃andikui stretch connects Bagrana on the outskirts of Jaipur to Bandikui, which basically feeds into the main Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. This shortcut eliminates the need for Jaipur commuters to take the longer and congested Dausa-Agra Road route. The upgraded access means that drivers can now reach the entry points of DND flyway in about 2.5 hours. Keeping this in account, the entire journey will take around 3-3.5 hours max. More DetailsTo further boost the connectivity, four new interchanges have been constructed along the new link. These are located at: BhedoliKhurikurdSundarpuraGeela ki Nangal These will also benefit surrounding villages and improve regional connectivity. Meanwhile, in other news, the construction of the Kota tunnel on the Mumbai-Delhi Expressway has reportedly reached its final stage. This route is going to significantly help those who often plan their journey from Gurugram to Vadodara or vice-versa via road. With this new route, the travel time will be reduced to just 10 hours from 20-22 hours currently. The expressway will connect important areas in Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra to Delhi. According to reports, it is expected to cost around Rs 1 lakh crore. The road will have eight lanes and is built for vehicles to travel at speeds of up to 120 km per hour. In the future, it can also be widened to twelve lanes if needed. As of now, 756 km of the greenfield corridor is already open for traffic. As of June 2024, the physical progress of the project stood at 82%, with 1,136 km constructed, the ministry said. Following that, the revised date was pushed to October 2025.