The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has called for a tender for ₹688 crore for “additional works to ensure road safety on Bengaluru-Mysuru access-controlled highway”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the highway on March 12, 2023, just before the Karnataka Assembly elections. The expressway has drawn the ire of commuters over the lack of safety measures and saw a rise in fatal accidents. Parts of the expressway were also flooded.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had inspected the expressway in July 2023 and said the road had been opened for traffic hastily without completing all the work, including road safety measures. The State government had written to the NHAI on issues plaguing the highway.
Following this, the NHAI has called for a tender. “The Government of India has entrusted to the authority the development, maintenance, and management of additional works to ensure road safety for the six-lane Bengaluru-Mysuru access-controlled section of NH-275 on Hybrid Annuity Modeunder NH(O) (the project) on design, build, operate, and transfer basis,” the tender document issued on January 5 said.
MP for Mysuru Pratap Simmha announced on social media that the Union government had released ₹688 crore for road safety measures on the expressway.
After an increase in accidents on the highway, in July 2023 the NHAI constituted a three-member panel of experts to conduct a safety inspection. The committee was expected to suggest measures to ensure the safety of motorists and the installation of speed cameras.
In August 2023, the authorities restricted slow-moving vehicles, including two-wheelers and three-wheelers, from entering the main carriage of the access-controlled highway to control accidents. Meanwhile, following a spurt in fatal accidents, the Karnataka police commissioned a study on the causes.
The study identified speeding and lack of lane discipline as the chief causes of fatal accidents. This prompted the police to limit the maximum speed to 100 kmph and ban two-wheelers and all slow-moving vehicles.
