Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway to Be Extended to Bhavnagar

The Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway is set to be extended up to Bhavnagar, with construction work on the new stretch expected to commence within the next three months, significantly reducing travel time between Ahmedabad and the Saurashtra city.

Once completed, the extended expressway is expected to cut the travel time between Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar to around two hours under normal traffic conditions, compared to the current journey time of nearly four hours.

The announcement emerged during a high-level review meeting chaired by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari to assess the progress of National Highway projects across Gujarat.

Major Highway Projects Reviewed

During the meeting, officials presented updates on several key infrastructure projects in the state, including the six-laning of National Highway-48 between Vadodara and Mumbai, the Samakhiyali-Maliya stretch on the Morbi-Samakhiyali corridor, and the Rajkot-Gondal-Jetpur road project.

The review also covered the Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway, the Ahmedabad-Godhra-Indore corridor, the Jamnagar-Amritsar Expressway, the Palanpur-Samakhiyali corridor and the Ahmedabad-Shamlaji six-lane highway project.

Focus on Faster Execution

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel urged authorities to accelerate work on the strategically important Palanpur-Samakhiyali corridor project during the meeting.

The review comes as Gujarat continues to witness rapid expansion of its highway network aimed at improving connectivity between industrial centres, ports and emerging economic hubs across the state.

Tree Transplantation Along Expansion Routes

Officials were also directed to undertake transplantation of trees affected by highway widening projects wherever feasible, instead of felling them outright.

The Centre instructed agencies to identify suitable locations along the same corridors for relocating trees while carrying out road expansion works.