Considering the traffic on Bangalore-Mysore State Highway No 17, the State government has decided to upgrade it to a six-lane highway from a four-lane one. The Union Ministry of Surface Transport has approved upgrading 1,680 km of State Highway into National Highway in the State.
Addressing presspersons after a meeting with Chief Minster Siddaramaiah here on Tuesday, Minister for Public Works H.C. Mahadevappa said that he was leaving here for New Delhi to obtain permission for taking up the work.
Mr. Mahadevappa said that the density of vehicles plying on Bangalore-Mysore Highway had increased from 38,000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs) in 2007 to 78,000 PCUs now.
Following the clearance by the Union Minister of Surface Transport to upgrade 1,680 km stretch of State Highway in the State, the government had decided to convert the 130-km Bangalore-Mysore four-lane highway, developed by Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited in 2004, into a six-lane highway, he said.
Noting that land acquisition for the upgrade was a challenge, he said that the government had to spend Rs. 1,066 crore for acquiring 533 acres of land as per the recent guidelines of the Union government. “The cost of the project was estimated at Rs. 3,000 crore,” he added.
By-pass roads would be built at Bidadi, Ramanagaram, Channapatna, Maddur and Mandya where the density of vehicles was high. As part of the upgrade, there would be a grade separator near Srirangapatna, he said.
