PATNA: Residents of the state capital can expect respite from snarls on the stretch of Hardinge Road as Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Limited (BRPNNL) has targeted to complete the works on the GPO arm of the R-Block flyover by March 15.
Once ready, it will allow the vehicles coming from the airport via Hardinge Road to go directly to Gandhi Maidan or Kankarbagh through a network of flyovers and railway overbridges (RoBs) around Patna Junction.
This is the third arm of the R-Block flyover. The ramp of its first arm falls on Beer Chand Patel Marg and the second arm connects it to Bhikhari Thakur RoB, which goes to Mithapur. The first two arms of the flyover were inaugurated by CM Nitish Kumar in August last year.
Deliberating on the progress in the construction of the third arm, senior project manager at BRPNNL Khurshid Karim told TOI: “It connects Mithapur RoB at GPO golambar. The length of this arm is 630 metres and we have targeted to complete the construction works by March 15. In any eventuality, this arm of the flyover will be open for vehicular movement by Holi.”
Officials said once ready, motorists will be able to reach Gandhi Maidan from Bihar Vidhan Sabha in seven minutes. It will take the same duration to reach Karbigahiya from Vidhan Sabha.
The BRPNNL is constructing another flyover with three arms at Karbigahiya. “Works on the Mithapur bus stand arm of the flyover is already underway. It will connect Mithapur RoB. Similarly, the work is expected to commence on the arm of the flyover to connect Chiraiyatand RoB,” Khurshid said.
The flyover at Karbigahiya is likely to provide respite to frequent snarls in the area behind Patna Junction caused by vehicles going toward Mithapur bus stand as well as Kankarbagh.
At present, vehicles come down from Mithapur RoB at Karbigahiya Mor and crawl for around 500 metres thereafter on the rear side of Patna Junction to reach the western tip of Chiraiyatand RoB. This stretch remains chock-a-block almost throughout the day, and at times it takes as much as half an hour to cover this distance.
Officials said once the Karbigahiya flyover is ready, vehicles would move on elevated pathways right from R-Block flyover to the eastern end of Chiraiyatand RoB, covering a total length of around 5km.