Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway Records 30 Per Cent Progress In Karnataka, Likely To Be Completed By August 2024

The construction work on the 262-kilometre Bengaluru-Chennai expressway is progressing in Karnataka.

It is expected to be completed by August 2024. The four contractors have made an average of roughly 30 per cent progress on the project in Karnataka.

This greenfield and eight-lane highway extends 262 km through Tamil Nadu (85 km), Andhra Pradesh (71 km) and Karnataka (106 km).

The Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway project is divided into 10 packages and is being built at a cost of almost Rs 16,730 crore.

The expressway would allow motorists to reach Bengaluru in two and a half hours from Chennai, depending on speed. And at least 9,500 passenger car units travel between the two cities every day.

The four-lane wide road between Chennai and Bengaluru would include 71 vehicle underpasses, overpasses, and light vehicular underpasses, three rail bridges, 31 major bridges, 25 minor bridges, 147 culverts, six toll plazas, and five interchanges, reports The Hindu.

The expressway would also include two rest spots for travellers as well as two truck lay bays.

Hoskote, Malur, Bangarapet, Kolar Gold Fields, Venkatagirikota, Palamaner, Bangarupalem, Chittoor, Ranipet, and Sriperumbudur are some of the cities on the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway.

The road will be completely fenced off to prevent animals from straying onto it and will not have any service lane for local traffic.

According to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials, more than 98 per cent of the land needed for the greenfield project was available.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the ground for the Bengaluru-Chennai motorway in May 2022.