Punjab would witness a major step towards world class road connectivity in all major cities as Union Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari along with Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal would lay foundation stones of 13 major projects amounting to Rs. 10290.88 crore on September 14 at Ropar, Samrala and Jalandhar. These road projects mainly include 4 laning of Jalandhar-Barnala, Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur, Ropar-Phagwara, Kharar-Kurali, Chandigarh-Kharar, Kharar-Ludhiana roads besides elevated road in Ludhiana city.Disclosing this, an official spokesman said that the projects would provide world class road connectivity to commuters between Doaba and Malwa along with adjoining states in next 2 years. The capital Chandigarh would also be connected with 4 lane roads with all major cities like Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana.To ease out the traffic in major cities, the state Government would construct 12.951 KM long elevated road with Rs. 852.67 crore in Ludhiana from Samrala to Municipal Corporation limit. Besides this, the foundation stone of 4 lane Ladowal bypass would also be laid by Union Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, which would link NH-95 with NH-1 via Ladowal seed farm with a stretch of 17.041 KM with the cost of Rs. 392 crore. He also said that Derabassi flyover would be dedicated to the public, which was constructed with Rs. 113 crore, besides up-gradation of Amritsar Bypass with Rs. 229.34 crore. Giving details about the 4 laning projects, for which foundation stones would be laid down at Ropar , Spokesman said that 80.820 KM long Phagwara-Ropar road would be completed with 1367 crore and 14.135 KM long Kharar-Kurali 4 lane project with Rs. 457 crore. Likewise Chandigarh-Kharar 10.185 KM long 4 lane road would be constructed with an amount of Rs. 746.38 crore.
He further said that at Samrala, foundation stone of 76.014 KM Kharar-Ludhiana (upto Samrala chowk) road would be laid down by Union Minister and Deputy Chief Minister. This project would be completed at a cost of Rs. 1967.32 crore. In the evening at Jalandhar, the 4 lane project of Jalandhar-Barnala road, which includes 145 KM stretch mainly in three districts Jalandhar, Moga and Barnala would be initiated with the laying of foundation stone. The Project is divided into four parts from Lambra to Shahkot section with a total length of 33.28 KM including Nakodar and Shahkot Bypass with the cost of Rs. 847.02 crore.The project further included 4 laning of Shahkot-Moga section of NH 703 with the cost of Rs. 766.36 crore upto 32.45 KM, having bypass at Dharmkot in Moga district. From Moga to Tallewal section, the 4 laning road would include 38.65 KM with the cost of Rs. 904.82 crore. In the last leg, the project would witness 4 laning of 29.64 KM Tallewal to Barnala section, having bypass at Barnala with Rs. 578.38 crore.Apart from this, the 4 laning of 39.125 KM long Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur road would be done at a cost of Rs. 1069.59 crore and the project would be completed in next 24 months. A 4.81 KM long bypass would be constructed at Hoshiarpur besides a flyover at Adampur and, 2 major and 5 minor bridges.
The spokesman further said that this road would not only provide traffic free travel to commuters between major cities of the state but also to the commuters to adjoining states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh. Giving further insights, the spokesman said that the up-gradation of road infrastructure would go a long way to boost the economic development of the state, better connectivity, reduce the traffic congestion and make a significant difference in trucking logistics with increase in average road speed.It is important to mention here that the Deputy Chief Minister has been monitoring all road projects on monthly basis as he envisioned Punjab to have one of the best road connectivity state in the country having 4/6 lane road network. The work on these projects would start in full swing as the Deputy CM has fixed deadline to complete the projects in coming two years. Punjab has highest road densities amongst Indian states at 133 km per 100 sq. km with total 64,500 KMs road network in the state. Punjab is also amongst well served states and has road availability above the national average of 240.10 km per 1 lakh population.