Delhi‑Dehradun highway opens

India opened the Delhi–Dehradun Expressway on Tuesday, cutting the road trip between the two cities to about 2.5 hours. (indianexpress.com) Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the access-controlled highway on April 14, 2026. The route is about 210 kilometers long and links Delhi with Dehradun through Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. (ndtv.com) The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said the project cost ₹11,868 crore, trims the distance from about 235 kilometers to 210 kilometers, and cuts travel time from roughly 6.5 hours to 2.5 hours. (indianexpress.com) The corridor starts near Akshardham in Delhi and runs through Baghpat, Baraut, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Saharanpur before reaching Dehradun. The government has pitched it as a faster road link for commuters, freight traffic and tourists heading to Uttarakhand. (pib.gov.in) The expressway also carries an environmental design that highway planners have emphasized for months. A roughly 20-kilometer stretch between Ganeshpur and Asharodi includes a 10.97-kilometer animal underpass that officials describe as a major wildlife passage on the route. (indianexpress.com) Ahead of the opening, the National Highways Authority of India and the Wildlife Institute of India released findings from field monitoring on the Ganeshpur–Dehradun section. The study recorded 18 wildlife species using underpasses along the expressway alignment. (hindustantimes.com) Indian media reports said the highway was fully operational after Tuesday’s inauguration, and early coverage focused on route details, toll questions and heavy public interest in the shorter trip time. (hindustantimes.com) For travelers, the change is simple and immediate: a drive that used to take most of a day can now be done in about 150 minutes. (indianexpress.com)