Union Highway and Highway Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday dedicated 10 major road projects to the nation, including two major overpasses on national highways in the city of Vijayawada, completed at a cost of Rs 8,038 crore. in Andhra Pradesh. Gadkari also carried out bhumi puja (innovation) for the development of another 16 projects at a cost of Rs 7,585 million.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy presided over this virtual event via videoconference from New Delhi and Vijayawada. Union Minister of State for Road Transport General (retired) VK Singh, Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy, Secretary of the Union (MoRTH) A Giridhar, Minister of State for Roads and Buildings M Sankara Narayana, Principal Secretary MT Krishna Babu and others attended.
The inaugurated projects included the long awaited 2.7 km Kanaka Durga flyover, a new gem for the city of Vijayawada, built at a cost of Rs 501 crore, with the contribution of Rs 146 crore from the state governments. An engineering marvel, it is only the third six-lane bridge in the country with a unique column and wing design supported by a single pier.
Gadkari called it “the pride of the country.” A four-lane highway was also developed that would connect National Highway 65 with NH-16 at Vijayawada. The other overpass at Benz Circle on NH-16 is part of the expansion of the Vijayawada-Machilipatnam section of NH-65 into a four-lane highway.
By the way, Gadkari laid the foundation stone for these flyovers in December 2015. Both were delayed for many years due to various reasons, but the Benz Circle flyover was completed earlier this year and the Kanaka Durga flyover last month. .
Gadkari laid the foundation stone on Friday for a three-lane parallel overpass on NH-16, which will be built at a cost of Rs 100 million for a length of 2.47 km. It also launched the development of a major six-lane detour (17.88 km), including a major bridge over the Krishna River, which would connect the NH-65 (at Gollapudi near Vijayawada) with the NH-16 (in the village of Chinakakani near Guntur) at a cost of Rs 1,600 crore.
Another 30 km bypass being taken will connect NH-16 (at Chinaavutapalli) with NH-65 (at Gollapudi) at a cost of Rs 1,225 crore. These two projects would significantly reduce the traffic load in the city of Vijayawada, as well as reducing costs and facilitating the movement of transport vehicles on these crucial roads.
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