The Alappuzha bypass will be opened for traffic on Thursday.
It will be inaugurated jointly by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan through videoconference at 1 p.m.
The 6.8-km two-lane bypass, passing through the western side of NH 66, will link Kommady in the north to Kalarcode in the south. The project comes to fruition after a wait of nearly five decades. It was first mooted in the early 1970s. Although the first phase work was launched in 1980, the project got delayed on various accounts. On April 10, 2015, it was put back on track with a deadline of September 2017. However, the project got delayed further due to various reasons, including getting permission from Railways to place girders over the railway track as part of the construction of two rail overbridges (ROBs) at Malikamukku and Kuthirapanthy.
Elevated highway
One of the major features of the bypass is a 4.8-km stretch of elevated highway that passes beside the Alappuzha beach. Of this, 3.2 km is flyover.
The project has been implemented at ₹348 crore with equal shares borne by the Union and State governments. Besides, the State government spent an additional ₹25 crore for developing Kalarcode and Kommady Junctions, installing street lights among other works.
Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Public Works Minister G. Sudhakaran and others will attend the inaugural function.
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