The PWD Minister, Satish Jarkhiholi, recently held a meeting with PWD officials, bringing to light the buried plan of constructing a flyover in Belagavi city. In 2018, Belagavi Smart City Limited requested consultancy services for a DPR on the construction of a flyover from NH-4 to the central bus terminus via Ashoka Circle with approaches in Belagavi city.
Minister Jarkhiholi, who is also the District in-charge minister and PWD minister, has taken a keen interest in this project to alleviate the issue of heavy vehicles. The previous plan was to start at NH-4 Junction to Ashoka Circle, from where the project road deviates on Khade Bazaar Road, passing through Circuit House and ending at CBT. The project road passes through four junctions, namely Gandhinagar Junction, Mahantesh Nagar Junction, Ashoka Circle Junction, and Vegetable Market Junction, with a high density of mixed traffic flows.
The draft Smart City plan mentioned a flyover from Ashoka Circle (NH4 Junction to CBT via Raichur Bachi Road) costing 129 crores. However, the new plan is more ambitious, envisioning a flyover from Gandhi Nagar NH4 elevated Road up to Peeranwadi, with a dedicated entry and exit for CBT.
As early as 2015, a plan was proposed to build a flyover from Gandhi Nagar to CBT, which was later shifted to the Smart City project with a proposal of 100 crores. However, the cost as escalated to over 185 crores, and the state government had not sanctioned it, leading to the plan’s cancellation.