HT accessed the highway from Bajghera, and was able to cover the 19km stretch to Kherki Daula in a car that was being driven at 80 kmph in only 17 minutes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the Gurugram leg of the Dwarka expressway, a mammoth project that will link hitherto poorly connected neighbourhoods in the National Capital Region (NCR), and decongest the area.

The 29-km expressway is being built in four packages — two in Gurugram (19km, from Bajghera at the Delhi-Haryana border to the cloverleaf flyover at Kherki Daula in Gurugram) that were thrown open on Monday, and two more in Delhi (10km, from Shiv Murti at Mahipalpur to Bajghera) that are still under construction. According to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials, around 10% of the work in the Delhi segment remains.

Currently, one has an uninterrupted drive from the cloverleaf flyover at Kherki Daula to an underpass at Dwarka Sector 21 — around 300m from the Bajghera border — which further connects with Najafgarh Road.

Soon after Modi inaugurated the Gurugram leg of the expressway, HT accessed the highway from Bajghera, and was able to cover the 19km stretch to Kherki Daula in a car that was being driven at 80 kmph in only 17 minutes.

On Monday, the road was devoid of traffic, but NHAI officials said even during peak traffic, the commute may increase only by 4-5 minutes, noting that the entire expressway is access controlled, and there are only five entry and exits on the road.

To be sure, the speed limit on the expressway is 80 kmph.

The expressway is elevated for the most part, and HT’s car breezed past tall glass and chrome towers, as well as the green and open expanse of the Basai wetland. The drive is smooth, and one can comfortably maintain high speeds as the road does not have any major curve or turn.

After driving from Bajghera to Kherki Daula, HT made the return journey, where Municipal Corporation of Delhi toll collectors stood ready to collect toll tax from commercial vehicles wishing to enter the Capital.

However, a small wrinkle for Delhi-bound commuters could be the lack of signage at Bajghera — while the exit for Dwarka Sector 21 is functional, the remaining part of the expressway that goes towards Shiv Murti is still under construction, but there is no clear indication of which exit one can take to safely continue their journey.

NHAI officials said that the incomplete stretches will be ready later this year. “We have opened only the Haryana section for traffic,” an NHAI spokesperson said.