Mohali-Patiala road to be four-laned

November 11, 2013

Vibhor Mohan, TNN |

CHANDIGARH: Travelling between Mohali and Patiala will become much safer and faster as Punjab Infrastructure Development Board is set to upgrade SAS Nagar – Landhran – Chunni -Sirhind – Patiala state highway by making it four-laned and adding features such as overbridges, truck lay bays and padestrian crossings.Four-laning of 50.7-km long Zirakpur-Patiala national highway number 64 is already underway and road acquisition has been done at most places. A feasibility study has already been conducted and after getting financial bids in 2012, trees have been felled along the existing road.

A large number of regular commuters between Patiala and Chandigarh have begun using the Sirhind-Patiala road link due to relatively lesser traffic and better road. The route is particularly used by those coming to PGI or Panjab University as they get a direct link to these institutes.

A Punjab government official said Punjab Infrastructure Development Board is working on widening of the SAS Nagar – Landhran – Chunni -Sirhind – Patiala road link and request for proposal for preparing the detailed project report has already been invited by the board.

Both the projects would be taken up by raising loans from the World Bank and in public-private partnership. For this, commuters will have to pay at toll plazas to be set up on the basis of surveys conducted by consultants.

The proposed upgradation of the state highway will include construction of bus bays and bus shelters and truck lay byes located near check-barriers, places of conventional stops of the truck operators. Pedestrian and cattle crossing by way of unnderpass/overpass will be provided on the basis of traffic count assessment.

The existing national highway is single lane and prone to accidents as the road is not just narrow, it has no road dividers and railing is missing at most places on narrow bridges on water bodies.

On the Zirakpur-Patiala stretch, toll plaza will be set up at one point between Zirakpur and Rajpura and another between Rajpura and Patiala.

Source-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com