Construction on the 262 kilometer long Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway has reached 15 per cent completion on the 96 kilometer long stretch in Tamil Nadu, The New Indian Express has reported.
National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials estimate that the work will be completed within the next 15-16 months.
The expressway project is being built at a cost of almost Rs 16,730 crore and is divided into ten packages. It will pass-through the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and help reduce travel time between Bengaluru and Chennai by 2 to 3 hours.
It will be a six-lane, access-controlled expressway beginning at Hoskote in Karnataka and ending at Outer Ring Road near Chennai.
It will pass through Hoskote, Malur (Karnataka), V Kota, Palamaner (Andhra Pradesh), Gudiyatam, Arakkonam and Sri Perambadur (Tamil Nadu). Th expressway will cover a length of 75.64 km within Karnataka, 88.30 km in Andhra Pradesh and 98.32 km in Tamil Nadu.
The work on the Tamil Nadu side has been divided into four packages, which include 24 km between Gudipala and Walajahpet, 24.5 km between Walajapet to Arakkonam, 25.5 km between Arakkonam and Kancheepuram and 32.1 km between Kanchipuram and Sriperumbudur.
Additionally, 833.91 hectares of land will be acquired for the project in Tamil Nadu. Around 95 pr cent of the land has already been acquired and the rest will be done soon, according to an NHAI official.
The project on the Tamil Nadu side includes 54 bridges, 13 vehicular subways, and toll plazas, the report adds.
The expressway, with its greenfield alignment, is designed to reduce the road distance to 262 km from the present 300 km.
There are two existing routes which connect Chennai and Bengaluru — one is via Hoskote, Kolar, Chittoor, Ranipet and Kancheepuram, which is 335 km long, and a second route via the Electronic City and Hosur which runs to a distance of 372 km. The alignment of the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway lies between these two stretches.
The road will be completely fenced off to prevent animals from straying onto it and will not have any service lane for local traffic.