Best driving roads: Yamuna Expressway
India is infamous for its shabby roads, but at the same time, there are many fantastic driving roads spread through the length and width of our beautiful country. OVERDRIVE has been fortunate enough to experience quite a few of these roads, and we want to share the joy with a weekly feature of a fantastic road that you should aspire to experience someday.
From the highly challenging route of Manali to Leh, featured last week, we take you to one of the best designed highways in India - the Yamuna Expressway. Built alongside the Buddh International Racetrack by the same infrastructure company, the Yamuna Expressway was opened to the public in 2012. This road covers the 165km stretch from Greater Noida to Agra. Built with concrete, the road is quite smooth but produces more noise than an equivalent tarmac surface. A six-lane giant,  further two lane expansion is possible should the need ever arise. The entire route is elevated and fenced off.
Naturally, this won't stop determined villagers and dogs from getting through, but they are far and in between, and I've neither seen nor heard of any complaints of cattle on the road. Breaks in the divider and entry/exits are quite sparse, so it's rare to see idiots coming down the wrong way. However, thick fog can be an issue sometimes and that's something to watch out for.
The road has a speed limit of 100kmph for cars and 60kmph for heavy vehicles. To be honest, it can get quite dreary if you love corners because the road remains straight pretty much the whole way through. Toll is expensive, probably the highest in the whole country. When it opened in 2012, one-way toll from G. Noida to Agra was set at Rs 320. However, according to news reports, a recent price hike in June 2016 brings the figure to just over Rs 400. Even two-wheelers are charged on this route, and a biker can expect to shell out about Rs 200 for a one-way journey. Another downside is that there aren't as many food and fuel stops along the way like the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, but the Yamuna Expressway journey is undoubtedly quicker.
The Yamuna Expressway is not driving nirvana for the enthusiast; it's a little too boring for that. Instead, this road is one of the best experiences of a smooth, stress-free, super highway in India. It's also a great way to quickly get to Agra from Delhi, but you have to drive Greater Noida first, which is another story altogether!