Lucknow, June 21 -- With the inauguration of the Gorakhpur Link Expressway, Uttar Pradesh now accounts for 42% of the country's total access-controlled expressway network, up from the earlier 38%, a state government spokesperson said on Friday. "After the inauguration of the Ganga Expressway (594 km), likely by the year-end, being built from Meerut to Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh will alone have 62% of the country's access-controlled network. That is, out of every 10 km of expressway built in the country, 6 km of expressway will be in Uttar Pradesh. Apart from this, many more expressways are under construction in Uttar Pradesh, while the government has approved many new expressways", the spokesperson said. According to Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh, as quoted by the spokesperson, while there are a total of 2,900 km of access-controlled expressways across the country, more than 1,200 km of expressways are located in Uttar Pradesh alone. This accounts for 38% of the total expressway network across the entire country. With the addition of Gorakhpur Link Expressway, this figure has now increased to 42%. Uttar Pradesh is the first and only state in the country where the maximum number of expressways are not only ready, but many are under construction and proposed. Gorakhpur Link Expressway is the seventh expressway of Uttar Pradesh. Apart from this, three are under construction and eight are proposed. The state's longest expressway Ganga Expressway (594 km), Ballia Link Expressway (35 km) and Lucknow-Kanpur Greenfield Expressway (63 km) are being completed rapidly, the spokesperson said. At the same time, the construction of the Chitrakoot Link Expressway, which connects the Agra-Lucknow Expressway to the Purvanchal Expressway and the Bundelkhand Expressway via Farrukhabad, is in progress. Additionally, the construction of the link expressway connecting the Ganga Expressway and the Jewar Airport Link Expressway is also under way. Uttar Pradesh is the only state where work is under way on a plan for an expressway network exceeding 2,000 km. Expressways in UP are not limited to the capital or big cities, but also connect areas such as Bundelkhand, Purvanchal, and Terai....