Though the project to widen the existing highway between Bengaluru and Mysuru is yet to start, the work on widening the National Highway 209 connecting Bengaluru with Dindigul in Tamil Nadu via Kanakapura, Malavalli and Chamarajanagar has gained momentum.
The work on the widening of the NH 209, which began two months ago, is expected to be completed in the next two years, according to R. Dhruvanarayan, Chamarajanagar MP, who inspected the ongoing works earlier this week.
The NH 209 has been mooted as an alternative road between Bengaluru and Mysuru as the traffic between the two cities has increased by leaps and bounds over the last few years virtually choking National Highway 275 that passes through Mandya, Maddur and Ramanagaram.
The widening of NH 209 has been taken up at a cost of ₹1,961.94 crore. While ₹1,008 crore will be spent on laying the road, ₹953.94 crore will spent on land acquisition, said Mr. Dhruvanarayan. “A total of ₹44 crore has already been spent on the highway project during the last two months,” he said.
In Karnataka, the Bengaluru-Dindigul NH 209 spans across 167 km from Bengaluru to Karnataka’s border with Tamil Nadu. The 33 km-stretch of NH between Bengaluru and Kanakapura will be a four-lane highway while the remaining 137 km will also be widened even though it remains a two-lane highway.
However, motorists from Mysuru should proceed on the road to Malavalli, about 50 km from the city, before hitting the NH 209. The distance between Malavalli and Bengaluru is around 108 km.
Even though NH 209 is about 20 km more than 275, the highway via Malavalli and Kanakapura can prove to be an alternative to the vehicular traffic-choked NH 275, which is prolonging the journey between the two cities, particularly during weekends and holidays.
Meanwhile, Mr. Dhruvanarayan said a total of 67 km of the NH 209 between Bengaluru and Dindigul passes through Chamarajanagar district. He added that the highway will have a total of 42 km of by-pass roads near major towns including Chamarajanagar and Kollegal.
Also, three major bridges and 12 minor bridges, besides one railway over bridge and three vehicle underpasses will be built across the highway in the district, he said.
