T.R. Baalu inaugurates Mahatma Gandhi Expressway
It was a historic event as the Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Shri T.R. Baalu today inaugurated the Phase-II of the Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway at Vadodara. The Phase-I was opened to traffic in January 2003. Named Mahatma Gandhi Expressway, this is the first expressway in the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Baalu said, “As a tribute to the father of the nation and the worthiest son of Gujarat, the Government of India has decided to name the expressway as Mahatma Gandhi Expressway. It is a proud moment for the countrymen and especially the people of Gujarat as this 93 km long expressway, linking two major cities of Ahmedabad and Vadodara, becomes fully operational today. This ushers in the era of safe and high speed travel in the country.”
The expressway, which is part of the Golden Quadrilateral, has been built at a cost of Rs.550 crore, out of which a sum of Rs.350 crore has been spent on the Phase-II itself. The expressway is fully access controlled and has two interchanges, one at Nadiad and the other at Anand. These full cloverleaf type interchanges permit conflict-free crossing of the expressway and side road traffic as well as entry to and exit from the expressway.
There are many other operational and safety features on the expressway. Proper reflective signs have been erected along the route to provide information to the users. For facilitating night travel, reflective road studs have been fixed along the centre line and edge line of the carriageways. Reflective chevron signs have been installed along the curves. High quality signboards and delineators make the high-speed night travel very safe. Illumination of toll plazas and interchange areas will greatly enhance the aesthetics and appearance of the expressway besides aiding safety.
“A rigorous access control may have caused some inconvenience to the local people and I am informed that there are demands from them for providing parallel service roads and more crossing facilities. I have directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to have these demands examined carefully with a view to providing adequate crossing facilities for the people and their livestock. We will certainly take measures to minimise the inconvenience caused to the people. I would also urge that people residing nearby should be careful not to venture onto the expressway because it is highly unsafe for them to walk across the expressway which will have very fast traffic plying on it,” the Minister said.
“We are going to provide the latest operational features on this expressway. There will be constant surveillance by patrol vehicles. Setting up CCTV at important locations will further strengthen the surveillance. There will be emergency call boxes at every kilometre, through which the users in need of help can communicate with the control room and the latter can rush the help, rescue and relief. Ambulances would be available round the clock to rush accident victims to hospitals/trauma centers. In short, an information system and a communication system to establish the link between the users and the agencies managing the traffic operation, besides an incident management system to provide relief to the users in times of distress, will soon be in place,” Sh. Baalu informed.
Speaking on the occasion, the Union Textiles Minister Shri Shankarsinh Waghela said the expressway would result in faster development of the entire region. The Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi appreciated the timely execution of work by NHAI. The Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Shri K. H. Muniyappa, the Union Minister of State for Railways, Shri Naranbhai Rathwa, Members of Parliament Shri Dinsha Patel and Smt. Jayaben Thakkar and other dignitaries also graced the occasion.
(Release ID :3433)