Six-lane highway with service roads all along to come between B.C. Road and Surathkal

The four-lane B.C. Road-Surathkal Port Connectivity Road will soon be widened into a six-lane road with service roads all along the 38km stretch by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to ease vehicular movement through Mangaluru.

As a prelude to widening the Port Road —Bengaluru-Mangaluru NH 75 and Kanniyakumari-Panvel NH 66 — the Authority also wants to construct a bypass highway connecting NH 66 and NH 75 to divert the through traffic between Bengaluru and Mangaluru Port/ Industrial Ara as well as Udupi.

These initiatives are being taken up after Dakshina Kannada MP Captain Brijesh Chowta rigorously followed up the issue of improving the Port Road with the Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. Following the MP’s efforts, the New Mangalore Port Road Ltd., an SPV of New Mangalore Port Authority and the NHAI, got merged with the Highways Authority, thereby fully empowering the Agency to take a call on developing the highway.

NHAI Mangaluru Project Director Abdulla Javed Azmi told The Hindu that the Authority has floated tenders for preparing detailed project reports (DPR) for both the initiatives — widening the Port Connectivity Road and Bypass Highway. The agencies are likely to be finalised soon. NHAI is already in possession of required lands to widen the highways up to 45 m, he added.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has planned to widen the entire stretch of 38 km B.C. Road-Surathkal Port Connectivity Road into six lanes with appropriate modifications to existing flyovers.
| Photo Credit:
H S MANJUNATH

Elevated road

The Authority, Mr. Azmi said, wants to have an elevated highway between Kulai and KPT Junction with optimum utilisation of existing flyovers at Kulai, Kottara Chowki and Kuntikana. There would be no issue to have an elevated highway between Kulai and Kuntikana; the issue arises after A.J. Hospital where the existing highway moves on the steep ascent of Kadri Hills.

The DPR consultant would be asked to provide a better solution for this stretch as constructing an elevated road on a steep gradient would aggravate problems for heavy vehicles.

Current proposals closed

Consequent to the larger scope of work concerning the Port Road, the NHAI has foreclosed the contract for a vehicular overpass at KPT Junction sanctioned to be constructed at an estimated cost of ₹34 crore.

Similarly, the Authority would not go ahead with the proposed grade separator at Nanthoor Circle estimated to cost about ₹51 crore. The ongoing work would stop after the service roads are constructed between Nanthoor and KPT Circles, the Director said. Meanwhile, NHAI has widened the Nanthoor Circle enough to accommodate free-left turns on all directions.