Under-construction service road leads to dead end at Surathkal

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Apr 15, 2016: It is seen that as a result, heavy vehicles, including bullet tankers from HPCL and city buses, move on the Udupi carriageway towards Mangaluru and join the Mangaluru carriageway after the down ramp of the flyover. As a result, traffic towards Udupi gets affected frequently.

About a fortnight ago, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) started digging up the space between a commercial complex and the Udupi carriageway, said to build a service road. However, the ‘proposed’ service road meets the dead-end in front of Hotel Sadananda, making people wonder what purpose such a service road would serve.

The local  NHAI officials  claim that whatever is being done is in keeping with the original plan. “There is a  proposal to acquire the buildings that block the progress of the service road,”  said an official.

Asked about the fate of the service road towards Mangaluru, the officer said they would undertake another survey and propose acquisition of land and buildings, if necessary.

On the spot, it appears  that Udupi-bound vehicles would be made to take a portion of the existing carriageway as well as the proposed service road. Meanwhile, a dedicated lane would be made available for the traffic from the opposite direction. The point where these vehicles join the Mangaluru carriageway just after the flyover’s down ramp is prone to accidents as vehicles from Udupi would be descending the ramp at high speed.

The Mangaluru city police too were clueless about NHAI’s plans. They claim to the exact plan is unknown to them.