Bangalore-Chennai Expressway design study completed

The Bangalore-Chennai expressway design study was completed in 2013. However, the process of land acquisition is still underway with special teams designated in the three states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, through which the expressway is proposed to be developed. The length of the expressway is about260 kmwith significant progress seen in the past few months. The preliminary design report was submitted in March, 2013. This six-lane project is part of the 1,000-km expressway plan under Phase VI of the National Highways development programme. Currently, the land acquisition and environmental clearance procedures are being undertaken.

The expressway will start at Hoskote, near Bangalore and end at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai. There are already existing roads connecting the two states which are longer than the proposed expressway. The alignment of the greenfield expressway passes through the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The alignment of the expressway in the three states was finalised with the help of the concerned authorities in the respective states.

The corridor passes through five important business hubs namely, Hoskote and Bangarpet in Karnataka, Palamaner and Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh and Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. Out of the total length of the proposed corridor, 14 per cent is in mountainous terrain, 19 per cent in plain terrain and the remaining 67 per cent in rolling type of terrain. The alignment also passes through many irrigation wells, canals, water bodies and tanks.

Estimated cost of the project:

The estimated cost of the project is around Rs 76.83 billion. Out of this, about Rs 57.1 billion is expected to be incurred on civic construction activity and the remaining amount will be required for land acquisition, project administration, toll collection system, traffic control system, vehicles and other activities.

The cost for land acquisition is estimated to be about Rs 6 million. The project does not require any equity support or financial grant from the government as it is financially viable considering that the toll charges are 1.5 times the existing rates on the national highway.

But once the new land acquisition bill is passed by Parliament, NHAI will find it difficulty to acquire land and implement the expressway project. Other issues related with the implementation of the project includes documentation and institutional capacity.

It is expected that land acquisition is likely to be a smooth process as the three states have all evinced interest in the project.

The expressway has been prepared based on the guidelines of expressway published by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in April 2010.

Some of the key design aspects are :

1) Right of way spread on a sprawling expanse of 90 meters

2) Lane width of 3.75 meters, with a paved and earthen shoulder width of 3 metres and 1.5 meters respectively.

3) Median width of 4.5 metres, minimum and 12 metres, maximum, with a 0.75-metre edge strip

The expressway will have five main interchanges. Key amenities provided on the expressway includes truck lay bays, traffic safety devices, provision of guard rail, signage, traffic management systems, vehicular underpasses and pedestrian or cattle underpasses.

Proposed Toll Rates on the Bangalore Chennai expressway:

1) Re 0.65 per km for cars, light weight vehicles and jeeps

2) Rs 1.05 per km for large goods vehicles and Minibuses

3) Rs 2.20 per km for buses and trucks

4) Rs 2.40 per km for three- axle trucks

5) Rs 3.45 per km for multi-axle trucks.

6) Rs 4.20 per km for oversized vehicles with over seven axles 

These toll rates are much cheaper than the toll charges on the Yammuna Expressway