The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) will widen the six-lane Yamuna Expressway to eight lanes all along, anticipating a surge in traffic once the Jewar International Airport becomes functional.

“Experts have predicted around five million commuters daily on the Yamuna Expressway once the Jewar International Airport starts its operation. In order to deal with the situation, we would make one additional lane on both sides of the high-speed corridor,” Yeida CEO Arun Vir Singh told TOI on Thursday.

Singh said as per an estimate, half of the five million commuters would travel in private vehicles while the rest would use public transport. “As per government rules, a fourth lane is required when the vehicular movement crosses 60,000 a day. With the development of the airport, the fourth lane would be made functional,” he added.

At present, around 33,000 vehicles ply on Yamuna Expressway daily from Greater Noida to Jewar side, while the number is 20,000 from Jewar to Agra side. And, according to YEIDA, the construction for the Jewar International Airport would begin by October this year and “the first phase will be functional by 2022”.

Singh said officials from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had held a meeting with Yeida top brass on
Wednesday over the development of a road which would connect NH-93 and NH-2 in Kuberpur in Agra. “They had proposed