National highways around Bangalore promise smooth inter-city drive

National highways around Bangalore promise smooth inter-city drive
Expressways around Bangalore are on the fast lane to completion
The Times of India


Major national h i g h w ay s linking Bangalore to other States are being revamped to bridge distances in more ways than one. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has earmarked NH4, NH7 and NH48 for a major development spree with latest engineering technology employed in road-making, according to a highly placed official of the central body.
Hosur Road to Electronic City
One of the most significant projects undertaken by the NHAI is on the National Highway (NH)7 passing through Hosur Road right across Electronic City. This stretch is a crucial link passing through the IT hub of the city connecting it to the Tamil Nadu border. The NHAI has undertaken the construction of an elevated expressway running at a 10 km stretch from the Silk Board Junction in the city to Electronic City on the outskirts. The six-lane elevated highway will have a six-lane main carriageway being constructed at ground level with four-lane service roads connecting it to the other arterial roads. There will be four pedestrian underpasses located at crucial junctions in the highway.
Progress on the development work on this section is on schedule and has been slated to be complete by July 2008. In the second phase of the highway stretch running from Electronic City to the Tamil Nadu border, work on the 15 km road will feature six-lanes and five pedestrian underpasses. Work on this project will be flagged off next month and is scheduled to be completed in 15 months.
Bangalore to Devanahalli The next phase of road development work on NH7 will involve the portion of the highway linking Bangalore to Hyderabad running across from Devanahalli via Chikkaballapur to the Andhra Pradesh border. This 60 km stretch will be a fourlane expressway for which work has been awarded after calling for bids and development work should begin in a couple of months.
Bangalore to Nelamangala
An access-controlled highway will be the main feature of the project planned for a portion of NH4 which links Bangalore to Nelamangala. This four-lane highway will have two components where one will be an elevated highway stretching for 4.5 km within Peenya.
The second component of the NH4 project will feature the stretch from Bangalore to Chennai, passing through Kolar and Mulbagal right up to Hoskote. 80 km of the highway will have six-lanes while the remaining length will narrow to a four-lane one. Four works on this project have been awarded.
Bangalore to Mangalore via Hassan
Another project that will go underway in four to six weeks time will be on NH48 linking Bangalore to Mangalore via Nelamangala and Hassan. Presently, the portion of the highway earmarked will span 160 km.
Salient features
All the three highways will be elevated expressways appointed with state-of-theart lighting fixtures, cats' eyes, reflectors and pedestrian underpasses at strategically viable junctions. The pedestrian underpasses will make crossing roads during peak traffic hours easy. The six-laning of all these roads will be on by January end this year after tying up loose ends involving land acquisition.