The Hindu 

Mangalore, Jan 19: Mangaloreans will have to wait for one more month to travel on the stretch between Ambedkar Circle (formerly Jyothi Circle) and Balmatta Circle on Hampankatta Circle-Mahaveer Circle Road.

Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC), which is converting the 400-m stretch between the two circles into a four-lane concrete road, will allow vehicular traffic by February 29, according to sources in KUIDFC.

Sources said the concreting work on this stretch had been completed. At the basement of the road, 10-cm thick dry lean concrete and above that a 28-cm concrete had been laid. Work on the drains on both sides of the road had been completed.

The electrification work for erecting streetlights in the median is under progress.
The KUIDFC has started removing the old concrete layer for concreting the two circles. “The traffic will be allowed on the stretch only after concreting, including curing, is complete,” a senior official at the KUIDFC told The Hindu.
Bus bays

The official said that provision for bus bays had been made in front of Government Women’s Pre-University College and near Café Coffee Day shop. The road at these places had been widened to facilitate halting of buses.

The KUIDFC started work on this stretch in September under Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Project (KUDCEP), being implemented here with a loan from Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The official said the KUIDFC would convert the 670-m stretch between Balmatta Circle and Lower Bendoorwell junction into a four-lane concrete road. The work on this phase would be taken up in February or early March, he added. The 730-m stretch from Lower Bendoorwell Junction to Mahaveera Circle via Karavali Junction will be converted into a four-lane bituminous road. The KUIDFC may not be able to start this work before June or after the end of rainy season this year.

These development activities are a part of developing the main road from Mahaveer Circle to Milagris stop near Hampankatta Circle via Karavali junction, Lower Bendoorwell junction, Balmatta Circle and Ambedkar Circle, measuring 2,600 m. The project is estimated to cost Rs. 16.3 crore. Of this, the 800-m stretch between Milagris stop and Ambedkar Circle was converted into a two-lane concrete road last year and was subsequently opened for traffic.