BENGALURU: The much-awaited Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway, that is expected to significantly reduce travel time between the two cities, will not be opened anytime soon. PWD Minister CC Patil said it is unlikely to be ready by October this year, as announced earlier.The 117-km highway -- stretching from NICE entrance in Bengaluru to Ring Road Junction in Mysuru -- is expected to cut travel time from an average of 3 hours to just 90 minutes, and was expected to be completed by Dasara.
The ten-day Mysuru Dasara celebrations are to be held from September 26 to October 5. The BJP-led State government had plans to invite PM Narendra Modi to inaugurate the ambitious project, in a bid to make him a part of its efforts to strengthen the party base in Old Mysuru region. Now, with work going on at snail’s pace in some places, it is not likely to be completed before Dasara.
Sources told TNIE that road work is almost complete, however, structures like flyovers and underpasses are incomplete in most places. The corridor has nine major bridges, 44 minor bridges and four rail overbridges. “We have completed 70 per cent of the work and are trying to complete the remaining at the earliest. It might not be possible to finish work by Dasara,’’ said an official, on condition of anonymity.
In March, Union Minister for Roads and Highways Nitin Gadkari had tweeted about the 10-lane Bengaluru-Mysuru Economic Corridor. He had stated that it was being constructed at record speed, and the Rs 8,172-crore corridor was likely to be completed by October.
In March 2014, the Union Ministry of Surface Transport had announced some roads across the country would be upgraded to NH, and Bengaluru-Mysuru Road was one of them. NHAI is converting the highway (NH 275) into 10 lanes, including a six-lane expressway. Estimated cost of the project in 2014 was `4,100 crore, which later doubled.