The NHAI has awarded IRB Infrastructure Developers the contract for widening the 189-km stretch on the NH 66 from Kundapur to the Goa border.
The project is expected to be completed in three years. The NHAI had proposed to widen the stretch of the highway into four lanes under phase IV of the NHDP. The cost of the project had been estimated at Rs 2,400 crore. It would be taken up under DBFOT basis. The construction period would be 910 days. The stretch proposed for widening was part of the 296-km highway from Goa border (near Karwar) to Kerala border (near Talapady) in the State. A total of 14 major bridges, 41 minor bridges, six road-over-bridges (RoBs), and three road-under-bridges (RuBs) would be built under the project. Four tunnels and an equal number of flyovers would be built. There would be 53 bus bays and four truck bays. Around 260 ha of private land in 66 villages and 122 ha of forestland would have to be acquired for completing the project.
A main feature of the project is an elevated highway of 350-mtrs length and 12-mtrs width which would come up at Maravanthe, a tourist spot, where the existing highway passed through a narrow stretch between the sea and the river. The highway would be built along the river at about a metre height from the existing highway.
Meanwhile, the company had received the LoA in 31 July 2012 to this effect.