VIJAYAWADA: The much-awaited Kanaka Durga and Benz Circle flyovers will be opened for traffic from Friday, after the virtual inauguration by Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari along with Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, said Minister for Roads and Buildings M Shankara Narayana.
The minister, along with Collector A Md Imtiaz and MLAs Malladi Vishnu and Jogi Ramesh on Thursday evening inspected the arrangements for the flyover inauguration.
Speaking on the occasion, Shankara Narayana said that the 2.6-km six-lane flyover was constructed by Soma Construction Company under the supervision of R&B department using span and wing technology at an estimated cost of Rs 467 crore.
So far, load capacity test has been conducted three times on the flyover by the officials and has given nod for allowing traffic on it. This apart, the traffic will be also allowed on Benz Circle flyover-I from Friday. The total length of the flyover is 2.35 km and an 880 metres-long approach road for it which is a part of the Vijayawada-Machilipatnam Highway expansion works taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 747 crore.
Around Rs 80 crore was spent on the construction of flyover-1 between Skew Bridge Junction and Novotel Hotel and is aimed at reducing the traffic congestion on the NH, especially near the Benz Circle Junction, the minister said. Gadkari will also lay foundation stones for various development projects worth `15,592 crore in the State executed by the NHAI, he added.
Benz Circle flyover-I also to be operational
The foundation stone for 2.3-km long flyover began in 2016 and built at a cost of Rs 80 crore. The project is aimed at reducing the traffic congestion on the national highway (Kolkata-Chennai) in the city