Recent initiatives by the state government indicate that the tourists visiting the Taj Mahal
from New Delhi and Kanpur shall in future be able to drive up to the Taj Mahal by Yamuna
Expressway without having to tackle the knotty traffic in Agra. At present, all Agra bound
vehicles arriving from New Delhi or NOIDA via Yamuna Expressway are forced to waste
precious hours in dealing with this problem.
The Agra Development Authority officials confided that work on an inner city Ring Road
Connecting the Yamuna Expressway to the Fatehabad tourism complex near Taj Mahal has
already begun, which shall take another two years to get completed. The first phase of this
project shall see the construction of an elevated stretch of road, 10.9 kms long, which shall
initially have 6 lanes, later to be augmented by 2 more lanes. This construction shall help
spawn news hubs of activity on either side of the Expressway. The development shall
include extensive landscaping, a golf course, new parks and toilets, state of the art roads,
improved lighting with underground cables, concealed drains, shelters, medical facilities and
activity zones. In short, the entire improvement is likely to motivate the tourists to spend
more time browsing around Taj Mahal. This project is being buttressed by the long-
pending Taj Ganj beautification.
Simultaneously with this project, the state administration has also given its green signal to
the Agra-Lucknow Expressway. The two Agra bound expressways shall get together at
Kuberpur in Agra’s Etmadpur tehsil.
As a matter of fact, the local tourism industry had been persistently petitioning the state
government to provide a transa Yamuna link up to the Fatehabad Road from the Yamuna
Expressway to facilitate a much easier access to the 17th century monument.
All these latest developments are expected to revamp the surrounding area around the Taj
Mahal thus substantially improving the tone and tenor of tourist services.