The Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway project, which is expected to reduce commute time between the two cities to 90 minutes and give a fillip to development along the corridor, will be commissioned by Dasara 2022.
This was stated at the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee meeting in Mysuru on February 25.
Civil and road works are expected to be completed till Maddur by May. The representatives of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said that work till Mysuru will be completed before Dasara, and the access-controlled highway will be opened to traffic by September.
The Centre has given in-principle approval for expenditure of an additional ₹1,200 crore for incorporating a few road safety features, which will take the cost of the entire project to approximately ₹9,500 crore.
However, certain road safety features will not be completed before December 2022, according to NHAI officials.
Almost 52 km of the expressway comprises bypasses. The expressway will skip major towns en route, which will help in reduction of the commute time.
Mysuru MP Pratap Simha, who reviewed progress of projects under implementation by various departments in the district in the presence of Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Bagadi Gautham, MCC Commissioner Lakshmikanth Reddy and Mysuru ZP CEO B.R. Poornima, also sought information on other projects in Mysuru and Kodagu districts, including the greenfield highway connecting Madikeri with Paschimavahini near Srirangapatna in Mandya district.
The Mysuru-Madikeri greenfield highway is expected to reduce commute time for people travelling to Kodagu from Bengaluru. The proposed 4-lane highway will take a deviation at Paschimavahini and connect to Kushalnagar and Madikeri.
The work will be taken up in different packages. Tenders for packages 2 and 3 have been approved, and work is expected to commence in June. There are issues related to shifting of electricity and telephone poles for which meetings have been held with the authorities concerned, said Mr. Simha.
Of the 92-km stretch of the new road, almost 84 km will be completely new and will be access-controlled, and hence reduce the commute time to Madikeri.
