Delhi-Meerut Expressway: ABES Cut Bottleneck Doubles Travel Time, Blamed For Gridlock

The Delhi-Meerut Expressway, which had initially reduced travel time between the two cities to under an hour, is no longer providing rapid transit. Commuters now report the journey takes one and a half to two hours, a problem attributed to severe traffic congestion at the ABES cut in Ghaziabad.

This report is the first in a three-day news campaign by Dainik Jagran investigating the issue.

Findings Of The Investigation

A Dainik Jagran investigation on Monday revealed that the entry and exit cut near ABES College, located on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway and NH-9, is the primary cause of the bottleneck.

Daily Congestion: Long queues of vehicles form at the cut, especially every evening, as traffic attempts to exit towards Ghaziabad. This backlog causes vehicles heading towards Meerut to get stuck.

Insufficient Infrastructure: The cut provides only one lane for entry and one for exit, which has proven insufficient for the high volume of traffic.

Ineffective Management: Although traffic police personnel have been deployed to the location, they are unable to resolve the chronic congestion due to the design flaw.

Severity: The resulting traffic jams are so severe that they are reminiscent of the congestion on the old NH-24.

Origin Of The Cut And Unfulfilled Promises

The ABES cut was not part of the original expressway plan and was created by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) sometime after the expressway opened.

Public Demand: The cut was initiated by former Union Minister of State General VK Singh following long-standing demands from city residents.

Justification: Residents argued that the expressway lacked entry and exit points within Ghaziabad city, forcing them to travel to UP Gate or Dasna.

Flawed Execution: The problem of traffic jams began immediately after the cut was created. The investigation suggests the volume of traffic was not taken into account during its planning.

To mitigate the issues caused by the cut, the NHAI had previously promised to build two additional lanes. However, these lanes have not been constructed, and the traffic problem remains unaddressed.

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Commuter Demands

Commuters are demanding that one additional lane be built in each direction at the cut to provide relief from the daily traffic jams.

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