Purvanchal e-way to get service facility zones

Lucknow: Full-scale service facility zones are set to come up alongside the Purvanchal Expressway in the upcoming financial year.At present, the 341-km-long high-speed corridor does not have a full-fledged service area that offers the amenities required to meet the needs of long-distance travellers.
Though the Yamuna Expressway and the Agra-Lucknow Expressway have such full-scale service areas, the Purvanchal Expressway is dotted with small hotels, cafeterias, or service stations that offer only a limited range of services to commuters. A budget of about Rs 308 crore will be needed to set up the public facilities. The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority tried to set up such service areas by inviting private players, but nobody showed interest. "We will develop service areas on our own. A multi-cuisine food court, fuel station, automobile repair garage, toilet blocks, motel, electric vehicle charging station, and rest areas for truck drivers, along with parking bays, will be available in the integrated complex," said additional chief executive officer of the authority, Srihari Pratap Shahi. The authority will rope in the public works department for the project. For now, a four-hectare (4,000 sq m) vacant plot on both sides of the carriageways has been earmarked for the development. Officials said that the food court would have a common seating area that would be enough to cater to at least 150 individuals at a time, while the motel would have 8 rooms and a dormitory. A lay-by for the truckers would have bunker beds to accommodate 80 drivers at a time. Similarly, a health centre to deal with emergency cases would also be set up. The expressway was inaugurated in Nov 2021 and caters to Lucknow to Ghazipur via a six-lane access-controlled carriageway. As movement of individuals heading to Bihar and West Bengal from the National Capital Region is expected to go up via the Purvanchal Expressway within one year, the authority has decided to get the two facilities commissioned at the earliest. "Once the Ganga Expressway is thrown open, volume on both the LucknowAgra and Purvanchal Expressway is expected to go up. Having full-service areas to cater to commuters will be essential," said a senior official.