The movement of vehicle from Suntikoppa to Madikeri was banned three months ago to facilitate the road widening work. The work has been completed and road has been thrown open to traffic from Saturday itself. Owing to the closure of the road between Suntikoppa-Madikeri, vehicles were moving via Chettalli, Madapura road to reach Madikeri.
The road widening work was undertaken by KRDCL and the contract was given to RNN company, Hubli. In the first phase, Mysore-Kushalanagar road was undertaken three years ago at an estimated cost of Rs 129 crore. In the second phase, the road work between Kushalnagar-Sampaje was undertaken at an estimated cost of Rs 101 crore during October. Of which, the 30 kms road between Kushalnagar-Madikeri is in its final phase. However, the work on the entire stretch of the highway will complete by the end of May.
The road work which was started at Tavarekere on the outskirts of Kushalnagar six months ago has been completed till Sampigekatte on the outskirts of Madikeri. The remaining road work from Madikeri-Sampaje will be started by October, said KRDCL divisional engineer Devraj to Deccan Herald. He said “on the outskirts of the town, the road will be widened by 22 metres. In the city/town, the widening of road has been restricted to 20 metres.”
The RNN company is making use of 82 lorries to transport materials for the road work, 6 rollers, 2 JCBs and one asphaltation work along with 350 workers. Between Kushalnagar and Madikeri, 54 culverts and three bridges have been constructed. The dangerous curve between Madikeri and Boikere has been widened and a retaining wall has been constructed below the road. With the opening of road from Madikeri and Kushalnagar, one can reach the destination within 40-45 minutes.