Public Works Department gears up to replace asphalt on Kankanady bypass road in Mangaluru with concrete

Mangaluru's Kankanady bypass road will soon be upgraded to concrete, with utility lines being shifted to facilitate construction.

With the opening of the Mahakalipadpu twin Railway Underbridge (RuB) in Mangaluru for traffic, the Public Works Department of Karnataka has geared up to execute the work of replacing the asphalt on the Kankanady bypass road between Karavali Junction and Bhagwan Mahaveera (Pumpwell) Circle with concrete.

“We have asked the sub-division concerned to commence work at the earliest,” a senior engineer with Mangaluru PWD division told The Hindu on January 30. The work was sanctioned in 2020 at an estimated cost of ₹4 crore. Despite the five-year delay, the contractor is ready to execute the work at the same rate. The scope of work includes laying a 7-metre wide concrete road on both the sides with a 1-metre wide median inbetween, the engineer said.

Construction of pavement and concrete shoulder drains are not in the scope of work, he said adding the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) might have planned for the same.

The department would first take up work on the up-lane, from Pumpwell Circle to Karavali Junction stretch. Before that, MCC would have to shift the existing underground drainage line. The civic body would also have to shift other utility lines and lay service lines for Jalasiri water supply, the engineer said.

If undertaken immediately, the PWD is hopeful of completing the work before the onset of monsoon, the engineer said.

Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) will shift the underground drainage line (UGD) line beneath the up carriageway (left) of the Kankanady bypass road before the Public Works Department takes up work of laying concrete on the 700-metre road between Karavali Junction and Bhagwan Mahaveera (Pumpwell) Circle in Mangaluru. | Photo Credit: H S MANJUNATH