AP working on road link between Amaravati and Rayalaseema

The State government is working on ensuring better road connectivity from Rayalaseema districts to the new capital Amaravati via Nallamalla forests. Under this initiative, the Roads and Buildings Department is proposing to construct a couple of tunnels in the Nallamalla forests, especially on the Anantapur to Amaravati route.

The existing route connecting Anantapur to Amaravati covers a distance of 472 km and plans were being made to cut short the distance by 86 km by avoiding curves and long detours. However, the new route passes through a 26 km-stretch in the Nallamalla forests and there was a need to construct a couple of tunnels to ensure smooth flow of traffic.

Once developed, the new route would cut short the distance and travel time from Anantapur to Amaravati by almost five hours. All these plans were presented to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu during a review meeting here on Tuesday.

Mr. Naidu instructed the authorities to synchronise the Kadapa and Kurnool routes with the Anantapur- Amaravati route. “All these plans are preliminary and the Chief Minister has suggested a few changes. We will have to prepare a final plan accordingly,” a senior official from the Roads and Buildings Department said.

In all, 800 km of roads have to be constructed and emphasis was being laid on developing a four-lane road covering Krishnapatnam to Ravuru, Kadapa, Chitvel, Tadipatri, Gutti and connecting it to Bengaluru highway.

The officials also briefed the Chief Minister about the proposed beach corridor from Icchapuram to Tada in four packages. Mr. Naidu directed the authorities to develop the Bhogapuram, Gangavaram, Visakhapatnam, Addaripeta, Kakinada and Antarveedi stretch under the first phase.

He wanted them to develop the route into a tourism circuit. Along with a double road, there had to be a provision for a 14-metre commercial road, two-metre walkway, two-metre cycleway and a two-metre utility road.

s“The route has to be developed on the lines of California-San Francisco and Melbourne-Victoria Beach roads,” said Mr. Naidu.

The existing route connecting Anantapur to Amaravati covers a distance of 472 km and plans are being made to cut short the distance by 86 km by avoiding curves and long detours