New Delhi, Nov. 6 -- The 210-kilometre Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, which will more than halve the travel time of six hours between the two cities, is expected to open by February 2026, after multiple delays pushed back its latest target of October 2025, according to a senior functionary aware of the matter. The project is being constructed for Rs.11,868.6 crore and was initially targeted to be completed in December 2024. After a Rajya Sabha reply in July said it would open in October, work to wrap up construction continues, officials said. The early 2026 target was set after the Prime Minister's Office directed the ministry of road transport and highways to inaugurate the project once all the phases are complete. The first phase of the project, on the Delhi side, starting at Akshardham and passing through Geeta Colony, Shastri Park, Mandola Vihar in Ghaziabad, and up to Khekra in Baghpat, has been ready for over six months. On September 8, when Delhi saw localised flooding, many commuters on two-wheelers travelling from the Akshardham side had removed the barriers to use the expressway and avoid traffic snarls. Even a majority of the second phase, starting near Baghpat and going up to Saharanpur, is nearly complete, with finishing work underway on a few stretches. The third phase, which involves widening the existing brownfield section from Saharanpur Bypass to Ganeshpur, is also in advanced stages of construction, officials said. In the fourth phase, safety and finishing works on the elevated section near Dehradun are underway. A National Highways Authority of India official, not wishing to be named, said, "The remaining works are expected to be completed in November," the official said....