PM to kick-start expressway

PM to kick-start expressway
Deccan Herald

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will lay the foundation stone for the 9.985-km elevated expressway between Silk Board Junction at Madiwala and Electronic City in Bangalore on Saturday.

The project comprises an elevated four-lane carriageway and, on ground, widening of the existing four-lane carriageway. The Rs 450-crore project is scheduled for a June 2008 opening.

Addressing reporters here on Thursday, Union Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways K H Muniyappa said the project was devised to ease traffic bottlenecks on the Bangalore-Hosur section of NH-7.

The minister said though the road was tipped to largely benefit employees of IT companies in the region, it would considerably improve the traffic situation in general.

The project will be taken up by a consortium of three joint venture partners – Soma Enterprise, Nagarjuna Constructions Company and Maytas Infra – on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis with a 20-year concession period. The expressway is tipped to save 30 per cent money and time for the road-user.

Road widened

The existing highway from Electronics City to Hosur will also be widened to six lanes, with two-lane service roads on either side. Bids for the widening project have been invited. The Minister said neither the State nor the Centre would be involved in the construction of the expressway, which will effectively shape up as a 10-lane mixed corridor.

“The consortium, instead of asking money from the government to bridge the viability gap, has offered a negative grant (of Rs 16 crore) to the National Highways Authority of India. Besides, the partners will construct the expressway using their own funds and recover the investment from the toll charged on the road,” he said.

As per the initial plan, companies in the Electronic City were to chip in Rs 100 crore for the project.

NHDP on roll

Mr Muniyappa also detailed the six phases of road works being taken up under the National Highway Development Project (NHDP).

“Four-laning on around 550 km of the total 625 km earmarked under the Golden Quadrilateral has been completed and four-laning on seven km of the total 92 in the North-South Corridor has also been done,” he said.

ELEVATED EXPRESSWAY

*Length: 9.985 km

*Cost: Rs 450 crore

*Construction period: 24 months

*Concession period: 20 years (including construction phase)

*Traffic: 81,000 to 1,24,000 PCU (Passenger Car

Units)

*Two-lane service roads on either side, two

vehicular under passes, four pedestrian

underpasses, two toll plazas, eight busbays

TOLLED RIDE

*Two-wheelers: Rs 10*

*Cars: Rs 25

*Mini-buses: Rs 35

*Buses: Rs 70

*LCVs: Rs 35

*Trucks: Rs 70

*Earth-movers/heavy construction

machinery: Rs 140

* Toll on elevated section, after completion of project.