Mangaluru-Karkala NH will be 4-lane in two years: Nalin Kumar Kateel

MANGALURU: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has issued the work order to widen the NH from Bikarnakatte in Mangaluru, to Sanur near Karkala, to the Sanur-Bikarnakatte Highways Ltd.
Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said that the company has been given two years, to make it into four lanes. “The NHAI has already appointed Sanur-Bikarnakatte Highways Ltd to develop the Bikkarnakatte-Sanur stretch of NH-169, as per the work order dated October 10, 2022.
The project will be taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 1,137 crore, and this is excluding the cost of land acquisition. The company has been directed to complete the project as per the time-frame given to them,” Kateel stated in a release.
In the next two years, all national highways connecting Mangaluru, will be converted into four lanes, he said. “A proposal to convert the national highway stretch from BC Road to Panambur, into six lanes, is in the tender stage. The work will commence soon,” he said.
The 45km-long four-lane road will be developed from Bikarnakatte in the city, to Sanur, which is about 5km from Karkala. Once the project is completed, people from Dakshina Kannada will benefit most, as the road passes through Moodbidri, which is a major town, and an education hub. Further, it will also provide big relief to the people of Dakshina Kannada, as the national highway stretch from Bikarnakatte to Gurupura has been witnessing traffic congestion, due to the narrow stretch.
Once the project is completed, the traffic congestion on the Bikarnakatte to Gurupura stretch will be eased. The new four-lane stretch will be of a width of 45m, with a carriageway of 18-20m, as well as median, and there will be two bypasses at Gurupura and Moodbidri. The NHAI plans to set up a toll gate near Gurupura, once the project is completed.