The Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway is scheduled to be inaugurated on Monday, reducing the travel time between the two cities to barely 40 minutes. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and Uttar Pradesh CHief Minister Yogi Adityanath will inaugurated the 63-km stretch together. The travel time between Lucknow and Kanpur will no longer take two to three hours to complete, rather passengers will reach their destination in about 35 to 45 minutes.
What Does The Stretch Links
The Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway runs form Shaheed Path in Lucknow to Chakeri in Kanpur. The stretch will form a part of National Expressway 6, Jagran reported. The stretch was officially designated as National Expressway-6 (NE-6) in December 2020. The maximum speed limit has been set at 120 kilometers per hour. Cameras will automatically identify vehicles exceeding the speed limit and issue e-challans. For passenger convenience and safety, the expressway has been specially designed with modern amenities.
The approximately 63-kilomet-long route is being engineered in two parts. One is the 45-kilometer stretch from Azad Nagar in Unnao to the Lucknow border, approximately 17.5-kilometer stretch in the Lucknow area, has been completed.
No Toll Barriers
One of the most striking feature of the stretch is that it will be India's first barrier-less expressway. The Expressway will be no conventional toll barriers for vehicles to pass through, reducing delays and congestion typically caused by toll plazas on older highways.
There are five toll plazas, namely Miranpur Pinwat, Shivpura, Bani, Amarsas and Azad Nagar. These plazas along the route, although the one connecting to the Outer Ring Road will not charge any toll. A fixed fee, based on vehicle type, will be collected at the remaining four points, with a digital system designed to ease traffic congestion during peak hours.
The NHAI annual pass will be valid on the expressway, which will cost only Rs 15 for a two-way travel, whereas for a one-way journey by car without a pass, the toll will be around Rs 275, which will be higher than the existing NH-27.
AI-Based CCTV Cameras And More
The 630-km expressway features an Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) has been installed along the entire route. Artificial intelligence-based CCTV cameras will monitor the stretch 24/7. In case of an accident. The system will immediately send an alert to the control room on vehicle breakdown, vehicle driving in the wrong direction, or traffic jams.
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Charging stations for electric vehicles have been developed. Underpasses, flyovers, railway overbridges, and major bridges have been constructed at several locations to ensure local traffic is not disrupted. State-of-the-art control rooms have been established at the 27th and 35th kilometers to monitor the entire route.