BENGALURU: Even while the tunnel road project is under tendering process, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the big-ticket 110-km elevated corridor has been approved by the technical advisory committee of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA). The corridor, running radially across Bengaluru, has been planned at a cost of Rs 18,000 crore, including Rs 3,000 crore for land acquisition.
The DPR is expected to be sent to the state government for approval by September 25, and once okayed, the project is expected to be completed in 25 months.
“The government has already given in-principle approval for the project. Once it gives its nod for the DPR, the work will start by December,” said BS Prahallad, Director (Technical), Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE). He confirmed that the corridor will be tolled and built under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. “B-SMILE will, however, not decide the toll,” he added.
The corridor will be completely elevated, with provisions for entry and exit at selected points. According to Prahallad, the corridor is an end-to-end solution as it has been planned along arterial roads (major roads).
“We prepared the DPR after studying the city’s traffic for one year. We got many ideas while preparing the DPRs and all those ideas have been incorporated,” he said.
Elevated roads will cover outer areas
Ultra-High-Performance Fibre-Reinforced Concrete technology will be used to build the corridor. The B-SMILE team visited Nagpur, where such technology has been used. All the components for the corridor will be precast and factory-manufactured. High quality and strength will be achieved and that is the primary target of B-SMILE, which will supervise the mega project, he explained.
These long length flyovers are alternative roads and not complementary to existing stretches. The state government will give some viability gap funds if needed to those who win tenders, Prahallad informed.
The elevated roads will cover outer areas, and they will go radial. People can interchange their routes and travel quickly. A provision will be made from the eastern side of the corridor to reach the airport road, he added.
“The toll will be like on the Bengaluru Mysuru Expressway. The DPR was prepared by Infra Support, Kannan Siddishakthi, and Nagesh Consultants. All three worked together, shared their ideas on different stretches and came on a common platform,” Prahallad said.