NOIDA: The ride between Noida and south Delhi will speed up significantly when the new six- lane bridge over the

at Kalindi Kunj, running parallel to the existing one, opens later this month.

The Noida Authority has said the bridge, which missed two deadlines in two years, is likely to be inaugurated on January 25.

With around 1.5 lakh vehicles using it daily, the old four-lane Kalindi Kunj bridge becomes a bottleneck during rush hours. Commissioned in August 2014, the new bridge was supposed to have been completed in 2016. But the deadline was first pushed to March 2017, and then to November 2018 because of funding issues.

Officials said apart from funds, there were other reasons for the delay. The new bridge had to be connected with another bridge over

drain. But that bridge is still under construction. The work, officials said, was delayed towards the end of last year when pollution control boards issued a blanket ban on any construction because of deteriorating air quality.

The new Kalindi Kunj bridge is 618 metres long, and is built on 15 pillars at intervals of 41 metres. It has two carriageways of three lanes each and 1.5-metre wide pedestrian pathways on each side. The Noida Authority is currently giving finishing touches to the approach roads and installing lights along the way.

Another key

project for Noida-Delhi connectivity, on which work is likely to begin this month, is an elevated road between Chilla Regulator and Mahamaya Flyover along Shahdara drain.

The 5.5km road will connect Mayur Vihar Phase-I with Mahamaya Flyover on the Noida-

Expressway. The project is expected to take 42 months to complete.