NEW DELHI: Thousands of trucks entering Delhi, choking roads and causing air pollution will have the option to bypass Delhi from mid-April. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the 135km bypass connecting Kundli (NH-1), Ghaziabad (NH-12) and Palwal (NH-2) on April 15. He will also inspect the Delhi-UP Gate section of NH-24, which is being widened to 14 lanes.Opening of the 135km signal-free stretch, also known as Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), will enable vehicles coming through Jaipur to bypass Delhi to head towards Uttarakhand, Kolkata, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Similarly, vehicles coming from other directions can use the EPE to bypass Delhi. The Manesar-Palwal section of the priority stretch of the other half of the “Ring Bypass” known as KMP or WPE is already operational. The Manesar-Kundli stretch will be completed by June end will come as a huge relief not just for Delhi and its immediate neighbours but it will also help save time and fuel for long haul traffic. .The remaining portion of Manesar to Palwal of KMP expressway, which is being executed by Haryana government, is likely to be completed by June end.Sources said while the PM will address a big gathering in Baghpat after inaugurating the EPE, he will hold a road show as wellwhile inspecting the country’s first 14-km highway stretch between Nizamuddin Bridge and UP Gate. “The PM riding an open vehicle on this stretch will be greeted by public. Modi along with highways minister Nitin Gadkari had laid the foundation stones for EPE, WPE and NH-24 widening. EPE and NH-24 are getting completed in record time,” an official said.While the widening of Nizamuddin Bridge to UP Gate is getting completed one year before the official deadline, EPE will be completed within the deadline. “We lost almost a year due to protests by land owners. Had that not been the situation, we would have completed the entire project within 500 days,” said an NHAI official.EPE, which will be the first expressway to be built by the central government, will be a model for such future high speed corridors. There will be electronic tolling system and commuters will pay for the exact stretch they commute on the expressway.