A new expressway is set to be constructed between Bengaluru and Chennai which aims to reduce travel time between the two cities. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, said that the four-lane Bengaluru-Chennai expressway is one of the 26 new green expressways which will significantly cut down travel time for people travelling on these 26 routes. The foundation for the Bengaluru-Chennai expressway was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2022. The expressway is scheduled to be completed and ready for public use by December 2025.
Here are four things to know about the upcoming Bengaluru-Chennai expressway:
The expressway will start at Hoskote town in Karnataka and will end at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, which is nearly 40 kilometres from Chennai. The total length of this expressway is 262.27 kilometres and will run through three states — Karnataka (75 kms), Andhra Pradesh (88 kms) and Tamil Nadu (98 kms). Union Minister Nitin Gadkari told the Lok Sabha on August 3 that this expressway will reduce the travel time between the two cities to two hours, but many on social media have pointed out that this will not be possible unless the vehicle is driven at over 170 km/hr.
Hoskote (outskirts of Bengaluru) to SriPerumbudur (outskirts of Chennai) — 258 km in 3 hrs (=86 km/hr)
— JoiningUnrelatedDots (@Mareeswj) August 8, 2022
Bangalore city to Hoskote — 2hrs
SriPerumbudur to Chennai city — 2 hrs
Total Bangalore to Chennai — 7 https://t.co/UQbxL4kpLI
The expressway will consist of eight major bridges, 103 minor bridges and 17 flyovers. Apart from that, four spur roads (shorter roads that branch from a longer road) have been proposed. These roads will divert to Dabaspet (Karnataka), Konadaspura (Karnataka), Kolar Gold Fields (Karnataka) and Katpadi (Tamil Nadu). Out of the four, only spur three (Kolar Gold Fields) has been approved so far.
The project is estimated to cost Rs 18,000 crores and will be built in three phases. Reports say that the construction of this expressway will generate permanent employment for nearly 3,000 people and almost 90,000 people will be temporarily employed.
To construct the highway, 5.42 hectares of forest land is proposed to be used. The forest land to be used will be from the Mahimandalam forest in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. This is a reserved forest so permission from the Union government has to be obtained before the construction begins.