Vijayawada: In a big boon to the connectivity to the upcoming capital city Amaravati, the Centre has decided to expand Hyderabad-Vijayawada National Highway (NH-65) widening project up to Gollapudi on the outskirts of Vijayawada city.
With the works on Vijayawada west bypass that connects Amaravati with NH-65 at Gollapudi nearing completion, the widening of Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway will act as game-changer for development in the region.
Earlier, NHAI proposed to upgrade existing four lane NH to six lane from Dandu Malkapur in Telangana to Anumanchipalli near Jaggayyapet in NTR district. NHAI had already called tenders for readying the Detailed Project Report (DPR).
Senior officials took the issue to the notice of the chief minister saying that Jaggaiahpet is almost 100-km away from Vijayawada city and leaving the crucial stretch on NH with four-lane will make it a bottle neck particularly for the vehicles coming to the new capital city.
Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu directed Union ministers K Rammmohan Naidu and Pemmasani Chandrasekhar to discuss the issue with Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari and get the approval for the widening of the NH up to Gollapudi.
Following a request from the state govt, the Centre has agreed to expand it up to Gollapudi which will connect Amaravati via new River Over Bridge. Gadkari directed the NHAI authorities to ready the DPR as requested by the chief minister Chandrababu Naidu.
NHAI has now decided to go for about 40-km additional distance on NH to upgrade the existing NH into six-lane. NHAI will develop nearly 220-km long highway into six-lane. Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway has been identified as one of the most accident-prone highways in the country.
The Centre originally designed the Vijayawada-Hyderabad NH as six-lane project two decades ago but it was confined to four-lane in the first-phase. Interestingly, the developer of the first phase of the project, GMR Constructions, decided to exit from the project before the expiry of its contract tenure saying that the toll returns have dipped following the bifurcation of AP and Telangana in 2014. After repeated negotiations, the Centre allowed GMR to exit the project and decided to go with a new developer.
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