Karakatta Road in Amaravati to have four lanes; Seed Access Road, four parallel roads to be connected to Chennai-Kolkata highway

APCRDA Commissioner says three existing roads will be developed to carry the traffic of the Karakatta and the other major roads during their expansion works

The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) is going to widen the existing single lane Karakatta Road, which currently bears the entire traffic between Amaravati and Vijayawada, into a four-lane road to reduce congestion in Amaravati.

Moreover, the Seed Access Road and the four trunk roads parallel to it will be expanded and connected to National Highway (NH) 16 (Chennai–Kolkata Highway). This connection with NH-16 is important for the city as the Karakatta Road ends at the Prakasam Barrage in Guntur district.

The four parallel roads identified for expansion are E5, E11, E13 and E15, which are part of the Amaravati trunk road infrastructure. They will directly connect to NH-16 from their respective directions from Amaravati. During the recent APCRDA meeting, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had approved the expansion of the parallel roads.

The APCRDA has also proposed two more bridges on Kondaveeti Vaagu and Buckingham Canal to connect the Seed Access Road with the NH 16.

Commissioner of APCRDA Katamaneni Bhaskar told The Hindu that the APCRDA would develop three existing roads as alternatives for the Karakatta Road and others during the expansion of the above-mentioned major roads as per the master plan, so that traffic is not affected during the works. The APCRDA would be calling tenders for the resumption of all the works that were stopped during the past five years, he added.

Almost all the road network development works would go simultaneously and completed within a short period of time. Construction of another bridge and road on the Krishna river from Vykuntapuram in Amaravati is also under consideration, he said.

On the other hand, the Vijayawada Western Bypass, being constructed by the National Highway Authority of India for connecting NH-16 from Kaza in Guntur district to NH-65 (Machilipatnam-Hyderabad) at Gollapudi in NTR district, is also nearing completion. As part of this Western Bypass, a bridge on the Krishna river is being constructed.

Published - September 26, 2024 06:25 pm IST