Andhra Pradesh capital, Amaravati, would have an outer ring road at an estimated cost of Rs 25,000 crore. The Central government had in principle accepted the proposal forwarded by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Union Minister for highways and surface transport, Nitin Gadkari, had given green signal for the outer ring road. The outer ring road covers 189 kilometers.
The outer ring road plan was earlier cleared by the Central government, where the Centre had asked the state to acquire land. However, the Jagan Mohan Reddy government kept this project in cold storage. Now, Chandrababu Naidu revived the project and got initial clearance. The project was initially estimated to cost Rs 27,000 crore in 2018. It is now estimated to cost Rs 25,000 crore.
The Union Minister had also cleared the proposal for the Hyderabad-Amaravati green field express way. This would be a six-lane road from Hyderabad to Amaravati, covering over 200 kilometers. The present highway covers 270 kilometers. The road would have service roads on both sides. This would reduce the travel time from Hyderabad to Vijayawada by one hour. This road was part of the AP Reorganisation Act 2014, which was completely ignored by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
The present government had also secured clearance for the green field express way from Ananthapur to Amaravati. The express way was changed by Jagan Mohan Reddy government from Bengaluru to Vijayawada passing through Pulivendula. The road would be connected to the Chennai-Kolkata national highway at Muppavaram of Bapatla district.
Now, the present government has proposed a new road from Muppavaram to Amaravati, which covers 90 kilometers. The centre had accepted this proposal too giving better connectivity to Amaravati for the people coming from Rayalaseema region. They don’t have to travel by the existing Chennai-Kolkata national highway.
The central government had also cleared the proposal of the bypass road for Vijayawada on the eastern side connecting Peda Avutapalli with China Kakani near Mangalagiri. The city has two bypass roads from Gollapudi to Avutapalli and Gollapudi to Chinakakani. The bridge across River Krishna is nearing completion. It might take at least six to 12 months for the two roads to come into operation. If the eastern bypass is also completed, the city would be free from vehicular traffic from the national highways.
