Work on Half Ring Road to end in four months

HUBBALLI: If all goes according to plan, two national highways – NH-218 (Kusugal road) and NH-63 (Gadag) – will be connected to each other by the half ring road, work on which is currently under way, in four months. Once the two highways are linked, traffic on roads in the centre of Hubballi will reduce considerably since vehicles bound for Bengaluru, Karwar, Vijayapura and Gadag can skirt the city and reach the highways directly.
Arterial roads in the centre of Hubballi are often choked owing to the movement of vehicles, particularly trucks and buses, bound for highways. Once completed, the half ring road will mean that all of this traffic will be diverted away from the chaos of city roads.
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) executive engineer RK Mathad said that work on the stretch between NH-218 and NH-63 would be completed by February 28. “Work is proceeding apace, and nearly 80% of the work is complete,” Mathad said.
Another NHAI official said that, delay in land acquisition, coupled with the enforced hiatus owing to Covid-19, had delayed the completion of the project. “The project was originally slated for completion in December 2018. We have spoken to the contractor, who has promised us of completing the work by February,” the official said.
He added that the stretch between Gadag Road and AH-47 (Gabbur Road) and Anchatgeri would be completed by March. “Nearly three-fourth of the work on the stretch has been completed. We are eager to complete the work at the earliest and open the road to traffic. The Covid-induced lockdown delayed completion of the project considerably,” the official said.