The Seaport-Airport Road extension work is ready to get off the starting blocks. The work on the two crucial bridges on the route that will be extended from Kalamassery to the international airport is expected to roll out soon with land acquisition rates being firmed up.
The bridges on the 15-km-long extension route will come up at Thottumugham Mahilalaya Junction and Turuth, in two years. The four-lane road project is expected to be completed in four years. This will provide commuters with an alternative to the congested Aroor-Edapally NH 47 Bypass. At present, the Seaport-Airport Road begins from Karingachira in Tripunithura and ends at Kalamassery.
“The proposed airport extension and the widening of the existing stretch into four lanes will decongest the NH Bypass by acting as a ring road. This will connect NH 47 and NH 49 and will even decongest Edapally Junction, the beginning point of NH 17. Most inter-district goods carriers will use the road, bypassing Kochi city and the NH Bypass,” said sources in the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK).
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To begin the work on the two bridges, the district-level purchase committee has fixed the land acquisition rates ranging from Rs 2.50 lakh (in Chengamanad Village) to Rs 7.02 lakh (in Aluva East village) per cent. The compensation will be distributed once the State Level Empowered Committee approves the rate within a month.
Along with the bridges works, the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation intends to begin work on phase one of the Seaport-Airport Road. In this, the stretch from Kalamassery up to the Aluva-Perumbavoor Road will be built. “The timely completion of the road will depend on how fast the government hands over the funds. For widening the existing stretch into four lanes, a 30-metre-wide land was acquired over a decade ago,” sources said.
A total of 13.65 hectares of land is required for the road’s airport extension. The total project is estimated to cost Rs 662 crore, including cost of land acquisition. The State Government had allotted Rs 45 crore for the first phase of the project.
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