The Centre has given green nod for development of a greenfield expressway between Bengaluru-Vijayawada via Pulivendula.
The Centre, which initially wanted to launch the works under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-II in 2023, has now agreed to commence the work during FY22.
The proposed greenfield expressway is expected to reduce travel time by over three hours as about 65 percent of the route will be a four-lane highway.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is readying a detailed project report (DPR). The state government has cleared the route map after studying alternative routes to improve connectivity between the two cities.
As per the plans approved by the state government, a four-lane expressway will be constructed for around 360 km of the total distance of 570 km.
The remaining 110 km will be covered by connecting the new expressway with the existing national highways. This move will not only reduce the travel time but also save huge costs on the exchequer.
Although passenger and goods vehicle movement between several cities in Andhra Pradesh and Bengaluru, Karnataka has considerably increased in the past few years, the absence of a dedicated corridor is not only making the journey tedious but also expensive due to the distance to be covered.
The proposed greenfield national highway project will be taken up at a cost of Rs10,000 crore.
The highway could be connected with the existing Chennai-Kolkata NH-65 paving the way for better connectivity to all coastal districts from Srikakulam to Nellore with Bengaluru.