180 km of the Villupuram-Nagapattinam national highway to be converted into 4 lanes – The New Indian Express

Express news service

CHENNAI: A crucial road link to towns in the east coast corridor like Puducherry, Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Sirkazhi and Karaikal from Chennai and other parts of the state, is expected to become more fluid with a 180 km stretch from Villupuram to Nagapattinam via Puducherry to be widened to four lanes by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

The widening works of 180 km of NH roads of 332 and 32 (former number 45A) will be carried out in four lots at a cost of Rs 5,916.95 crore under phase I of Bharatmala Pariyojana and phase IV of the National Highway Development Program (NHDP). , NHAI had issued a letter of award to the contracting companies to execute the three lots involving a 123.8 km four-lane road from Villupuram to Sattanathapuram via Puducherry and Poondiyankuppam under phase I of Bharatmala Pariyojana at a cost estimated at Rs 4,446.56 crore.

The works to widen the 55.56 km road between Sattanathapuram and Nagapattinam, to be carried out under the National Road Development Program Phase IV, are at the tender stage and the bidder has not not yet finalized. The cost of the project is Rs 1,470.39 crore. According to official sources under the three packages – Villupuram-Puducherry (29 km), Puducherry-Poondiyankuppam (38 km) and Poondiyankuppam-Sattanathapuram (56.8 km) – the road should be developed with a rigid pavement with two carriageways on both sides with service road and median.

Concessionaires must maintain the road for 17 years, including a two-year construction period. The four Villupuram-Puducherry lanes will have two minor bridges, four railway bridges, one intersection, three viaducts, two vehicle underpasses and five light vehicle underpasses. In addition, a 16.3 km bypass road would be built.

The four lanes of Puducherry-Poondiyankuppam involve the construction of three major bridges, six minor bridges, three railway bridges, six viaducts, four vehicle underpasses and five light vehicle underpasses and a 33.58 km bypass.

In the third package, two road bridges, five major bridges, two major bridges with overflights, 25 minor bridges, one minor bridge with underpass for vehicles, 12 overflights and four bypasses for a total length of 18.78 km will be built for l widening of the 56.80 km NH road from Poondiyankuppam to Sattanathapuram.
The tender process for the 55.75 km widening to approximately Rs 1,470.39 crore between Sattanathapuram and Nagapattinam is being processed under phase IV of the NHDP.

NHAI sources said that initially work to expand Villupuram to Nagapattinam was planned under the NHDP. But the works were awarded under Bharatmala Pariyojana. NHAI had launched Bharatmala Pariyojana to provide trade link corridors and interstate corridors, as NHDP projects had reached saturation point. “The widening works of the road between Villupuram and Sattanathapuram will start soon,” said an officer.