MAPUSA
For once, the first people to experience Goa’s new elevated highway at Porvorim may not be motorists.
Two days before the six-lane elevated corridor is formally inaugurated, the Public Works Department (PWD) plans to throw open the landmark structure briefly to citizens, allowing them to walk along the elevated stretch and get a close-up view of the massive infrastructure project – and perhaps take the much-anticipated selfie from atop the corridor.
The unusual public access is being planned as the project enters its final stretch, with PWD officials saying nearly 99 per cent of the work has been completed.
“Two days before the opening of the elevated corridor project, we will allow people to take a walk and view the major infrastructure project,” PWD Executive Engineer (NH) Gajanan Desai said.
The contractor is now racing against the monsoon to finish the last bits of work. Desai said only minor works, including painting and hotmixing of a small stretch, remain.
“Painting is going on, but for hotmixing we will require a dry spell. We need just two rain-free days to complete the job,” he said.
Desai said the approaches and landings on both sides of the corridor, including those towards Sangolda and the Neo Majestic Hotel, have been completed.
Senior General Manager of RRSM Infra Pvt Ltd M C S Kurup said the major components of the project, including the final load testing, have been completed and the contractor will hand over the corridor to the PWD before its scheduled inauguration on September 10.
The company is also completing works along the service roads, including installation of electricity poles on either side of the elevated corridor. Potholes and damaged portions of the service roads will also be patched before the corridor is opened to traffic.
The 5.15-km corridor, built along the NH-66 between the Sangolda side and Neo Majestic Hotel, has been conceived as the answer to one of Goa’s most persistent traffic bottlenecks.
The project, with an overall sanctioned outlay of around Rs 641 crore including approaches, is intended to take through traffic above the congested Porvorim stretch and provide a smoother, uninterrupted ride between the Mapusa and Panaji sides.
The corridor is expected to significantly cut peak-hour travel time between Mapusa and Panaji, with PWD officials earlier estimating that the journey could come down to around 10 minutes once motorists join the elevated highway at Guirim, compared with around 40 minutes during peak periods at present.
With the final works now being completed, the brief pedestrian opening will offer citizens an unusual opportunity to experience the corridor before it becomes what it was primarily built for – carrying thousands of vehicles over one of Goa’s busiest stretches every day.
