Expressway to be one of the best road lines

Expressway to be one of the best road lines

The Hindu

The road to airport will be a stand-alone project

# It will start from the Outer Ring Road at Challakere
# The road will be ready ahead of the international airport

Bangalore: The 25-km expressway proposed by Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) may turn out to be the best road line from the city to the international airport coming up at Devanahalli.

While doubts were raised about the roads linking the satellite towns planned by the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority and those by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise likely to make driving to the airport difficult, official sources said this was not likely.

The expressway as planned from Outer Ring Road (ORR) to Devanahalli will be a stand-alone project, they say.

The link to suburban traffic will be through Hennur Road to Outer Ring Road.

Report

The Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority is in the process of finalising the technical report for the expressway expected to be built well ahead of the airport scheduled to be opened to air traffic by April 2008.

The report is likely to be approved by Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd shortly.

KRDCL took up the survey and detailed project report components of the expressway project.

Once these formalities are over, work on the road can start by the first quarter of 2007.

Six-lane

Completing 26 km of the six-lane highway in a year will not be too difficult, using the latest road laying equipment. The Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority is yet to work out a budget for the expressway because the land acquisition component was yet to be taken into account as also funding from official agencies.

The expressway had been planned to start near the Hennur-Challakere stretch on Outer Ring Road and then pass through Bidarahalli, Chikka Gubbi and Bagalur to reach Devanahalli.

Beyond the airport, the link is to the national highway and just short of the airport there will be a four-loop flyover and freeway segregating the traffic going into the airport.

Bangalore International Aiport Ltd has estimated that when Devanahalli airport becomes fully operational, it will have capacity to handle around 11 million passengers annually.

This indicates the traffic projections to the airport and from there to the city. Many international airlines now operating flights to and from the HAL airport are waiting for the new airport to become operational to add more flights to overseas destinations.

Traffic

The expressway itself has been designed to handle traffic that may cover up to one crore commuters a year, counting those coming to drop off air passengers or picking them, according to the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority.