LUCKNOW, Oct. 17 -- The much awaited Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway may be delayed beyond December 15 due to a lingering delay in the relocation of a high-tension electricity line near Sarojini Nagar, Lucknow. This line is now the only major roadblock to the expressway's inauguration, which was scheduled for July 31 this year, then extended to September, and then to December 15. The nearly Rs 4,700 crore six-lane, access-controlled expressway is designed for vehicles to cruise at speeds of up to 120 km/h, cutting travel time between Lucknow and Kanpur to just 45 minutes. It begins from Shaheed Path in Lucknow and connects to the Ring Road in Kanpur. Future provisions allow expansion to eight lanes. If all goes as planned, trial runs are expected by mid-December, with the expressway likely to open for public use by the end of December or early January. Sources within the project team attributed the hold-up to the slow progress in shifting the high-tension line, which is crucial for clearing the final stretch of the expressway. While construction on most parts of the 63-km elevated corridor is either complete or in final stages, this unresolved issue continues to hold up the final handover. "As soon as the high tension line is shifted, the expressway would be opened for traffic within a month's time after that," said Colonel Sharad Singh, project director, NHAI. Construction along the 45.3-km elevated Unnao segment of the expressway has been completed on schedule. Key infrastructure, including bridges over the Ganga Expressway at Nevarana and over the railway line at Korari, is now fully constructed. PNC Infratech, the construction agency, has finished all work assigned and has formally requested a no-objection certificate (NoC) from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). This week, the NHAI will carry out its final round of testing to assess the elevated expressway's readiness. A technical team had already conducted multiple inspections earlier, and sources claimed the project passed all safety checks so far. Despite this progress, the removal of a high-tension power line near Scooters India, is delaying the expressway's full operational status. According to the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited), specially engineered poles required to support the overhead line are still undergoing strength testing in Hapur. Once installed, the line will pass 18 metres above the expressway....