₹158.81 crore additional work to be taken up on the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway: Siddaramaiah

Karnataka Chief MInister Siddaramaiah has allocated more funds to improve facilities in the 119 km Bengaluru Mysuru expressway.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said additional work amounting to ₹158.81 crore will be taken up on the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway from November this year.

Speaking to reporters after inspecting the expressway in Mandya on Saturday, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is scheduled to begin the additional work covering the pending work related to service roads, bypasses, exit and entry points after securing the necessary approvals.

“A proposal for ₹158.81 crore has already been submitted”, he said. The works are expected to be completed by March next year.

Mr Siddaramaiah said expressway had been opened for traffic hastily without completing all the work including road safety measures. Noting that the expressway witnessed a number of accidents, Mr. Siddaramaiah said speed detectors had been installed and the number of accidents had come down from 20 during June to five during July 5.

The safety measures including cameras that had been installed on the expressway will not only detect the speed of the vehicles, but also capture other violations pertaining to lane discipline, driving without seat belt and driver on call. The police will act on the traffic violations taking place on the expressway.

The speed detectors had been installed at two places on the expressway, but Mr Siddaramaiah made out a case for installing the speed detectors at a distance of every ten kilometres in a bid to reduce the number of accidents.

With regard to the complaint on start of toll collection even before completing the work, Mr Siddaramaiah said it was not the State Government, but NHAI that collects the toll. However, he assured to take up the issue with Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari when he meets him in New Delhi.