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Chikkajala Flyover will be ready by month-end: CM

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The long awaited Chikkajala Flyover, which leads to Kempegowda International Airport, is expected to be commissioned by the end of this month, said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as he inspected work on the project on Thursday. The signal&nbsp;free elevated road from Hebbal Flyover to KIA Trumpet Flyover is expected to reduce travelling time to the airport drastically.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">&ldquo;The elevated road is almost complete. The stretch near Vidyaranyapura, Bagalur Cross and Chikkajala will be completed in the next 15 days. We are hopeful of inaugurating it by the end of the month and have approached Union Minister Oscar Fernandes to do the honours,&rdquo; Siddaramaiah said.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">When Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda raised the issue of toll being collected from adjacent service roads, the CM directed officials to examine exempting people living within a 25 Km radius of the flyover from paying toll. However, PWD officials said exemption of toll was against NHAI guidelines.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The flyover was supposed to be completed in late 2012 but, deadlines have been extended multiple times since then. Construction of the six lane, 22 Km road had significantly slowed traffic to the airport. Parts of the flyover were opened to traffic on Wednesday.&nbsp;</span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">The CM has also promised to look into shortage of land to construct service roads near Jakkur and Sahakarnagar. &ldquo;There is some airport land that is required for the service road. We will speak to the Defence Minister regarding this. At Jakkur and Sahakarnagar too, land is required. At Sahakarnagar, there are two temples and we need to discuss how the land can be acquired,&rdquo; he added.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial"><strong>Resolving Hebbal Bottlenecks</strong></span></span></span><br /> <span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">During his inspection tour, the CM acknowledged that there were bottlenecks around the Hebbal Flyover. This will be resolved by adding one more arm to the flyover on the right side, Siddaramaiah said. &ldquo;At present, work is in progress on one stretch towards KIA. We will speak with the Centre on constructing another stretch that will accommodate traffic from the airport towards the city,&rdquo; he said.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial"><strong>Signal-free Corridor to KIA</strong></span></span></span><br /> <span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">Technical studies are on to build an elevated flyover that will ensure signal&nbsp;free connectivity between the city and the airport, the CM said. A proposal in this regard has come from the BDA. &ldquo;A signal&nbsp;free corridor has been proposed by building an elevated flyover from the Windsor Manor Junction to Hebbal via Mekhri Circle. We are open to suggestions in this regard while the BDA does technical studies,&rdquo; the CM said.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial"><strong>20 Tender SURE Roads by April-May</strong></span></span></span><br /> <span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">&ldquo;Good roads are the need of the hour for the city. We will work towards this,&rdquo; Siddaramaiah said. Of the 140 major roads identified for civil works at a cost of INR 540 crore, work on 20 is expected to be completed by April-May. These roads will be constructed based on Tender SURE specifications, the Chief Minister added.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">Source-On Request</span></span></span></p>