NHAI identifies another road to Devanahalli airport

NHAI identifies another road to Devanahalli airport

Special Correspondent

The National Highway -7 is already choked

PWD to decongest roads in 1,000 sq km in and around Bangalore

Widening of four roads to be completed by March-end

BANGALORE: Even as the Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli is getting ready to commence commercial operations on March 30, road connectivity to the airport remains an issue and obviously the single largest concern. The NH-7 which is the only highway that links the city and the airport is already choked with heavy vehicular traffic.

The NHAI has identified another corridor which can alleviate the trauma of driving through the NH-7 to reach the airport.

The corridor passes through Nagavara Road touching the Ring Road, Thanisandra and Hegde Nagar.

This road will pass through Lingarajapuram, Benson Town and integrate the airport traffic into the city. At present these roads have to be widened to a width of 24 metres (80 feet) as per the standards laid out in the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

Quoting the Comprehensive Development Plan of the BBMP, the NHAI sources point out that the Thanisandra- Benson Town road was 24 metres wide but owing to encroachments, it has narrowed down at various places and the onus was on the State Government to widen the road and link it to the international airport.

The five-kilometre stretch between the Ring Road (Hennur entrance) and Nagavara would also have to be widened, the sources said. The Public Works Department has embarked on a project to decongest roads in an area of 1,000 sq km in and around Bangalore.

This project includes widening of four major roads in and around the international airport, including the State Highway 104 (Bangalore –Nandi Hills road). Other three roads are Hoskote-Boodigere-Devanahalli, Doddajala-Devanahalli and Yelahanka-Hindupur Road via Aradeshanahalli.

The work on widening these roads will be completed by the end of March, according to the sources in the PWD.