Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government on Wednesday announced that the project to upgrade the 51-km Ahmedabad–Mehsana highway into an eight-lane road, at an estimated cost of ₹2,630 crore, has been approved by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in a cabinet meeting.

With the completion of the project, residents of Mehsana, Patan and Banaskantha districts of North Gujarat are expected to benefit significantly, fulfilling a long-pending demand, said Spokesperson Minister Jitubhai Vaghani.

The minister said that a total stretch of 51.60 km from Adalaj to Palavasna Circle in Mehsana will be developed as an eight-lane highway. The road, which connects Ahmedabad with North Gujarat, was originally constructed as a four-lane highway in 1999, along with service roads on both sides throughout its length.

According to the latest traffic survey, more than one lakh vehicles use this road every day. Considering the increasing traffic load, the state government has approved the conversion of the existing four-lane highway into an eight-lane corridor. Under the project, the main carriageway will be widened to eight lanes, while 7-metre-wide service roads will be constructed on both sides to ensure smoother traffic flow and safer transportation.

Providing further details, the spokesperson minister said that to reduce traffic congestion in Kalol city, a 6.10-km-long elevated corridor comprising five overbridges and flyovers will be constructed along the city stretch. This will enable uninterrupted movement of highway traffic without affecting internal city traffic.

In addition, all existing bridge structures, pipe culverts and box culverts along the route will be widened to eight lanes.

The project also includes the construction of eight flyovers, of which two will be built at Shertha. Six new flyovers will be constructed at Rajpur Bhasaria, Jagudan and Mewad, while a four-lane flyover at Vaghara will be built at Kalol and Chhatral.

Moreover, eight underpasses will be constructed — two near Shertha, one near IFFCO Kalol, two within Kalol city, one near Chhatral, and one each near Nandasan and Ganeshpura. A new four-lane railway overbridge (ROB) at Vaghara will also be built adjacent to the existing Hayat Kalol ROB.

The minister added that tenders for the project will be issued soon, and the work is planned to be completed within two years after tender approval. DeshGujarat