A government official said that the issue of the increased vehicular load—due to operationalisation of the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway and Delhi-Mumbai Expressway—was discussed, and the central government has asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to explore the feasibility of a tunnel or an elevated corridor connecting the end point of Delhi-Meerut Expressway with AIIMS-Mahipalpur.

Officials said that the NHAI is already planning a 20 km elevated corridor linking AIIMS and the Mahipalpur bypass.

“During the review meeting, the Union transport minister had expressed concern that this corridor alone will not fully resolve the traffic congestion in the NDMC area and central Delhi. Currently, the Delhi-Meerut Expressway and Delhi-Dehradun Expressway terminate near the Sarai Kale Khan on Ring Road and the DND-Sohna (Jewar) link of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is also set to commence, which will further increase the load on Sarai Kale Khan,” the government official cited above said.

The significant increase in traffic volume due to the opening of these roads will likely result in additional traffic passing through the already congested New Delhi Municipal Council and central Delhi, amid severe traffic pressure on the Ring Road.

The official said that the central government directed the NHAI to explore the feasibility of constructing an elevated corridor or tunnel from the termination point of Delhi-Meerut Expressway to the proposed elevated corridor from AIIMS to Mahipalpur bypass, which are 5-6 kilometres apart. “They are also checking the possibility of a link from 11 Murti or Talkatora Stadium as part of this study. These corridors may be incorporated into the bids for the elevated corridor from AIIMS to Mahipalpur bypass,” the official said.

HT has accessed the documents conveying these directions.

A series of highways are being planned by the central government in an attempt to decongest Delhi, including the extension of the UER-II, tunnel from Shiv Murti to Nelson Mandela Marg, an interchange at Kalindi Kunj intersection of the Delhi-Noida road, among others. As part of these corridors, the NHAI is already planning an elevated corridor from AIIMS to Mahipalpur bypass, with further extension planned to Gurgaon-Faridabad Road. The tentative length of this corridor will be 20 km, and the cost is likely to be around ₹5,000 crore.

“The elevated corridor from AIIMS and INA to Nadira Marg further connects to Mehrauli Gurgaon road which can act as a parallel corridor between Delhi and Gurgaon. This will help divert the traffic from Gurgaon to Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida from NH-48 (Delhi-Gurgaon highway), MG road and both Inner and Outer Ring Roads by providing a direct signal free route for through traffic thereby easing pressure on existing arterial roads in South Delhi,” the NHAI report on the project states.