Road users will have to pay higher toll for using the 158-km Outer Ring Road that girdles the city and lets people bypass the chaos of city traffic, if the Telangana government accepts a key proposal of Hyderabad Growth Corridor Limited (HGCL). The HGCL manages the prestigious infrastructure project.
“Currently we have the lowest toll rates among all the cities, which only have a semblance of a ring road. Hyderabad, in contrast, has a full-fledged ring road, though there is a one-km gap. But that will also be ready soon,” said Sweta Mohanty of Hyderabad Growth Corridor Limited, giving the rationale for raising the toll fee.
HGCL began collecting toll only late last year and currently it ranges from Rs. 10 to Rs. 100.
The per-km toll on 165-km Yamuna Expressway is nearly twice that of ORR, while 95-km Mumbai-Pune Expressway is nearly 33 per cent more expensive.
The planned hike in toll ranges from 25 per cent for bus and two-axle trucks to 75 per cent hike for multi-axle and oversized vehicles. Car owners will have to pay up to 43 per cent more, once the new rates kick in.
Beside the hike, a string of measures are being taken to curb accidents on the most dangerous stretch of Outer Ring Road. “We are going for lighting in the 24.3 km stretch between Shamshabad Airport and Gachibowli which is the most accident-prone zone. Another reason cited for accidents was inadequate or confusing signage. We have sorted out that problem by streamlining and increasing the road signs. And we have increased vigilance on the stretch to bring down accidents,” informed Sweta Mohanty.
The ORR is increasingly becoming a route of choice for many in the city to head out of the city or to reach outlying areas.
