Six-lane highway with service roads all along to come between B.C. Road and Surathkal

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has proposed a plan to widen the entire stretch of B.C.Road-Surathkal Port Connectivity Road into six lanes on Tuesday, January 13, in Mangaluru.

| Photo Credit: HS Manjunath

The four-lane B.C. Road-Surathkal Port Connectivity Road will soon be widened into a six-lane road with service roads all along the 38km stretch by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to ease vehicular movement through Mangaluru.As a prelude to widening the Port Road —Bengaluru-Mangaluru NH 75 and Kanniyakumari-Panvel NH 66 — the Authority also wants to construct a bypass highway connecting NH 66 and NH 75 to divert the through traffic between Bengaluru and Mangaluru Port/ Industrial Ara as well as Udupi.These initiatives are being taken up after Dakshina Kannada MP Captain Brijesh Chowta rigorously followed up the issue of improving the Port Road with the Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. Following the MP’s efforts, the New Mangalore Port Road Ltd., an SPV of New Mangalore Port Authority and the NHAI, got merged with the Highways Authority, thereby fully empowering the Agency to take a call on developing the highway.

Also Read I B.C. Road-Surathkal Port Connectivity Road to see renewal, repairs soonNHAI Mangaluru Project Director Abdulla Javed Azmi told The Hindu that the Authority has floated tenders for preparing detailed project reports (DPR) for both the initiatives — widening the Port Connectivity Road and Bypass Highway. The agencies are likely to be finalised soon. NHAI is already in possession of required lands to widen the highways up to 45 m, he added.