[SKC-auto]

We can add Bangalore Chennai expressway as the land acquisition was completed and work may start any time. The sad part is they took 5 years to acquire the land. This expressway will be next to an industrial corridor along the lines of DMIC.

Even I am also shocked to see so less projects in the south. I hope they make Chennai-Kolkata expressway. This will allow me to go to my hometown from Bangalore in 12-14 hours.

[Stribog]

Originally Posted by dragracer567

I don't understand why there are no major expressway projects coming up in the South. Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad - some of the most important cities in the country which aren't that far apart are still not connected by any expressway. And as far as I've heard, there are no plans to connect them either.

Originally Posted by scorpio2107

I agree. Being from Kerala my mind was blown looking at the infrastructure in the North. The roads are horrible in Kerala and it takes 10+ years to finish any kind of road widening. Its great to know that at least some parts of our country are developing really fast. Can only hope to see some good roads here in Kerala in the future

Originally Posted by AMG Power

The first thought that struck me when I saw this thread was - so many projects and NOT a single one proposed in the south?

Looks like whoever plans all of this has a highly skewed view on infrastructure development.

Land acquisition and similar excuses are just that - excuses.

Mods - Leaving full quotes in as without it, context would be hard to understand.

First off, I am a born and bred Tamilian so lets get that out of they way.

A lot of these projects are STATE govt driven, from this list alone,

Take the Mumbai - Nagpur eway, it is a state proposed project, the state of Maharashtra is bearing 60% of the costs iirc, with the remaining coming from Centre.

Take present and future eways in UP,

Agra - Lucknow - Fully state funded,

Bundelkhand expressway - 90% state funded and proposed via loans

Ganga Expressway - 100% funded by the state with almost 3k crores released (of the 36k crore projected cost)

Purvanchal - 70% by state (all land acquisition) with centre picking up the construction costs.

Now tell me, how many e-Way projects has TN, Kerala, AP, Telengana even proposed? I know for a fact Kerala and TN have proposed (on their own) squat! all project proposals come from MORTH and MORTH alone.

We need to start asking these questions to our own leaders, lets never forget that India is a federal system and our state leaders also need to pull their weight.

That being said, at least TN has some money left in budgets, Kerala is unfortunately absolutely, fiscally bankrupt. It needs to first figure out ways to raise money. With recent laws like the one in Kuwait being passed and slowdown across the Gulf, this situation will be exacerbated as more people will return home and remittances will drop.

One area where this current central govt has had total step motherly treatment though is in the area of Urban Metro rails, this it unequivocally ignores the south, the fact that an economic powerhouse like Vizag has no metro and Chennai had to fight for approval for Metro Phase 2, and when the Modi govt sat on the approval process for 4 years (by which Mumbai metro almost completed 180 kms of track laying), the TN CM had to insult the centre by saying he will directly fund it via JICA, 2 days after this threat the approval came.

So yes, there is definite step motherly treatment of the south in some areas but in highway building? All you need to do with Mr Gadkari (Roadkari as he is affectionately known lol), is give him a proposal and it will be built.

[dragracer567]

Originally Posted by SKC-auto

Even I am also shocked to see so less projects in the south. I hope they make Chennai-Kolkata expressway. This will allow me to go to my hometown from Bangalore in 12-14 hours.

Even taking land acquisition issues, population density and existing infrastructure into perspective, It really doesn't make sense that not a single intercity highway is even under consideration other than the Chennai-Bangalore and Chennai-Salem highways. Also, given that most of industrial output (including most car production) is concentrated in the South (+ west), it makes financial sense as well. I honestly don't know who to blame - Central govt.? State govt.? The people? Its sad that the southern states contribute so much in taxes but always end up getting a step-motherly treatment.

[arijitkanrar]

Any update on the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway?
Wasn't that also under NHAI? Last I traveled on the road, I saw that the ground was being leveled next to the existing highway (till Ramnagara I think). Any update?

[arunramaswamy]

For those in TN, below is an update on the Chennai Thanjavur stretch. I have also personally observed 4-way laning in the Kumbakonam - Andimadam stretch.

The NHAI submitted the proposal to the Union Environmental ministry in the first week of February, seeking clearance to develop a 51.8 km four-lane highway between Kumbakonam and Sirkazhi. The greenfield project which is estimated to cost Rs 752 crore, is to be taken up under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I.

With this, the 335 km road between Chennai and Thanjavur via East Coast Road, is now under different stages fofour-lanene works.

The Chennai-Mahabalipuram stretch has been widened into four lane by the State Road development company. The remaining link from Mahabalipuram to Thanjavur is to be taken up for four lane works by NHAI.

www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2019/feb/18/kumbakonam-sirkazhi-road-to-be-widened-into-4-lane-1940123.amp

[R2D2]

Great thread and good to see insights into road constructions. That 150 kmph limit sounds a bit dicey. Way too fast for indisciplined Indians' driving habits and poorly maintained vehicles. We have enough incidents on the Mumbai Pune Expressway as an example of what goes wrong. A max of 100-120 (approx 60-75 mph common overseas on 6-8 lane freeways in the US or motorways in UK) should suffice.
And then comes enforcement of traffic rules. I hope the police are up to it.

[DigitalOne]

Many here have questioned the lack of new highway projects in the South. This is not a "South vs North" issue but in recent years some states more initiative in expressway construction, especially Maharashtra and UP.

The expressways being built in MH and UP are not even built by NHAI.

On the other side, in the South, recently we have see massive protests in TN against the greenfield Chennai-Salem expressway. And AP government cancelling the Amravati capital city project. These kinds of decisions do not inspire confidence.

But good news, Kerala building a North-south High speed rail, Bangalore-Chennai expressway construction will begin sometime in 2021.

The East and South have to pull up their socks.

[Ranabegins]

Patna-Buxar expressway
Once this is completed the travel time from Patna to Delhi will reduce drastically. The plan is to connect this expressway to either Purvanchal expressway or Ganga Expressway. The work is going on at good speed from Arrah to Buxar and a new Bridge is nearly ready over river Soan to replace the 100 year old bridge. The 4 laning work is half done and should be completed by mid of next year according to me.

[maddy42]

Originally Posted by arijitkanrar

Any update on the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway?
Wasn't that also under NHAI? Last I traveled on the road, I saw that the ground was being leveled next to the existing highway (till Ramnagara I think). Any update?

Entire project work is broken to two segments and sanctioned to Dilip Buildcon a Indore based group.

The barricades have been placed to keep traffic away from the construction and last i checked work was on in full steam from srirangpatna to Blr. Majority sections the road levelling work is on going and a lot of the towns are being bypassed. I just hope the businesses are not permitted to set up their eateries along this bypass.

Expectation is that by late 2022 this road will get done.

Coming from the south i feel a lot of initiative has to be taken by the local leaders to get these projects going. Just thinking from karnataka, our cities need to get connected, and we should not just focus on blr to get the economy going. Lastly protests and opposition to any road project causes a low investor sentiment to get the files moving.

Kerala is trying to build either a road or a rail between north kerala and bangalore, and has forests which it has to pass. Time to look at tunnels as a option.

Maddy

[sunilch]

We are going OT here but I feel compelled to write this. The entire debate on North v/s South wherein the North seems to be getting a favorable deal when compared to South is just a fallacy created and perpetuated by the politicians, whenever there is a election coming up in their respective states. And this is not limited to South politicians. Many politicians in other states too simply spread this fallacy that they are being treated unfairly by the CG and once they are back to power, they will fix this

All the processes for infra development (not just roads) are open and same for all states in India. It is upto the political leadership and the state machinery to propose, participate and chase the plans for development in and through their states. The more they work towards the same, the more results will they see.

Also, it depends on the priorities that they have at hand. If such large scale road projects are not their priority when the plans are invited/proposed, they don't get it.

I guess we should stop think in terms of North v/s South and simply discuss the merits/de-merits of the projects.

[swarnava.ch]

Originally Posted by arijitkanrar

Any update on the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway?

Let me share an update here. Work was on in full swing from the Bangalore side as well from the Mysre side as well till the lockdown started. Currently additional lane is being added to the sides and then some more space for the Side road. Some work in a few stretches have restarted with only few machines and labour. So I assume that the lockdown would have had only some impact on this project.

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

Many here have questioned the lack of new highway projects in the South.

Originally Posted by sunilch

We are going OT here but I feel compelled to write this.

Thanks for your points Sunilch and DigitalOne. You have brought in a valid point that the Original Post should not be used to judge How many projects in which region and derive there importance.

I feel the original intention of the thread was only to show a few examples only.

May I please request esteemed members to look at the morth WebPage (Minitry of Road Transport) here which has amore exhaustive list of all initiatives and details around more projects being driven by the Govt.

[deepakc]

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

Nobody knows why.... At this rate and at this attitude, not even in 100 years even 50 kms will be ready. I dont know how the powers-that-be can sleep in the night. I am ashamed to be an Indian. Its a zombieland out there. Sorry for my repeated rant.

Apparently there are some very political reasons to this. As long as a certain politician from this region was in power the infrastructure projects were running full steam ahead. Once he was ousted, all the projects in this region have been stalled / delayed.

[RBalaM]

Originally Posted by SKC-auto

We can add Bangalore Chennai expressway as the land acquisition was completed and work may start any time. The sad part is they took 5 years to acquire the land. This expressway will be next to an industrial corridor along the lines of DMIC.

Even I am also shocked to see so less projects in the south. I hope they make Chennai-Kolkata expressway. This will allow me to go to my hometown from Bangalore in 12-14 hours.

Yes, as per the recent updates, the Bangalore Chennai expressway works are going to start soon covering around 262kms with a budget of around 20000 crore. I wish they also bring back salem chennai expressway project again without causing any trouble to public. It will be a real boon especially between ulundurpet to salem.

[aithalsandy]

My take on some of the road infra upgrades in KA:
1. BLR - Chennai (Don't know the status)
2. BLR - Mysore (25% done)
3. Hospet - Chitradurga - Shimoga - Mangalore (50% done)
4. Tumkur - Shimoga (Started)
5. Karwar - Mangalore (Almost complete)
6. Shiradi upgrade (Done) Hassan-Sakleshpur (WIP)
7. One of the longest bridges to Singandhur Backwaters of Jog/Sharavathi (WIP)
8. Peripheral ring road at BLR (Planned)

[sharc_biker]

There are hardly any expressways in the South. I am really looking forward to the 10 lane (6 lane expressway with 2 lane service roads on each side) between Mysore and Bangalore.

The 140km 4 lane stretch takes an excruciating 3-4 hours and probably has more than a 100 speed breakers. Whenever there is an accident, the nearby villagers put up a new speed breaker there. There have been times when the journey has taken more than 6 hours.

First there was the NICE expressway project but that got shelved due to political reasons. Then there was an idea to convert it into a 6/8 lane highway. Never happened. Now that NHAI has taken over and it is no longer a state highway, things are finally moving for the 7000 crore project. But it will still take a good 2 years to complete.

Also, Bangalore desperately needs a Hyderbad like Outer Ring Road. The 4 lane NICE ring road is full of truckers occupying all lanes with cars dangerously overtaking them on the shoulder. The NICE ring road isn’t a full ring either. More of a Crescent. A peripheral ring road plan is on the table which means it’ll hopefully happen by the end of this decade.