Chandigarh: Three main carriageways for shorter route to Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport
Chandigarh, August 23
The UT Administration has recently announced plans for a new and significantly shorter route to Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport. The proposed route, which is aimed at drastically reducing travel time to the airport, will have a 60-metre-wide road with three main carriageways, two service lanes and three-metre-wide cycle tracks on both sides.
3-metre-wide cycle tracks on both sides
The proposed route, which is aimed at drastically reducing travel time to the airport, will have a 60-metre-wide road with three main carriageways, two service lanes and 3-metre-wide cycle tracks on both sides.
The decision was taken during a meeting of officers of the Punjab Government and the UT Administration held here today to speed up work on the shorter route between the International Airport and the city, at the UT Guest House.
To expedite the project, a joint meeting has been scheduled for August 26, involving Deputy Commissioners of both Mohali and Chandigarh. The focus of this meeting will be to accelerate the land acquisition process, which is vital for the road construction to proceed.
Even the Railways authorities have assured that a railway underbridge (RUB) would be constructed within four months after completion of the land acquisition process. The project is also aimed at easing traffic congestion in the city.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had on August 19 directed officers of the Punjab Government and the Chandigarh Administration to hold a joint meeting.
Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain presided over the meeting. To expedite the acquisition process, it was suggested that the land should be acquired with the mutual consent of the landholders, said sources. However, it was yet to be decided who would bear the cost, Punjab or Chandigarh, of nearly 1 km stretch, which falls under the Airports Authority of India (AAI), said the sources.
The proposed route will commence from the intersection of Vikas Marg (from Sector-43 ISBT) and Purv Marg (from Tribune Chowk) near Sector 48. This new route is anticipated to reduce the travel distance from this point to the airport from 11.5 km to a mere 3.5 km.
However, 51 acres of land to be acquired for the project. Out of this, 39 acres are situated in Chandigarh, while the remaining 12 acres are located in Punjab’s Jagatpura and Khandala villages. The allocation of the acquisition cost between Punjab and UT is yet to be decided, especially considering the existing alternative 164-foot-wide route to the airport via Sector 66-A included in the Mohali Master Plan.
