Khammam: The opening of the Brownfield Express Highway between Khammam and Suryapet for traffic has come as a big relief to those traveling to Hyderabad from Khammam.
Though the highway works have not been completed fully, officials of NHAI have allowed traffic as part of a technical trial.
Drivers of trucks and cars and two-wheeler riders are enjoying the drive on the six-lane brownfield highway due to a sharp reduction in their journey time to Hyderabad.
Some 90 per cent of the road between Khammam and Suryapet is now a six-lane road. The new road, technically called as 365-BB, will not touch Suryapet and connects to the Vijayawada and Hyderabad highway near a bridge on Musi river.
C Sridhar, a businessman from Khammam, said, “We are happy that the travel time is lessened by nearly ten km and we can reach Hyderabad within three hours instead of four hours earlier.”
The journey on the old road between Khammam and Suryapet had been a hell to motorists as it has eight ‘S’ curves and the road was narrow. Srinivas said, “Overtaking trucks between Palair and Khammam was a herculean task. The driving at ‘S’ curves was a nightmare to us.”
The new road will start at Thallampadu and end at Tekumatla. The NHAIbuilt the road as six-lane, passing through rivulets, underpasses and irrigation canals.
NHAI acquired 805 acres of land for the project and started the works in 2020. Villages like Jellacheruvu, Kusumanchi, Palair and Nayakanguden have been excluded from the new road’s reach. A bypass road was built to divert the traffic from these villages.
The cost of the 59.06km road was Rs 2,500 crore and a toll plaza will come up near Mothe. Construction of a fly-over at Tekumatla would start later.
The cost of the lands adjacent to the highway has gone up to Rs 2 crore per acre while the rate for the lands along the old road has have come down to Rs 30 lakh from Rs 1 crore.
