Road work: Shiradi Ghat to be closed from January 3

The Shiradi Ghat stretch along the Bengaluru-Mangaluru highway will be closed for vehicular traffic for four months from January 3 to facilitate completion of road concreting work.

A 12.5-km stretch in Sakleshpur taluk will be closed for traffic to complete the concrete road, according to officials of National Highways division of the state Public Works Department (PWD).

This will be the phase-II of the Shiradi Ghat reconstruction work taken up to build 26 km of concrete road along the Shiradi Ghat stretch on National Highway 75 that connects coastal Karnataka with the hinterland, including Bengaluru.

The phase-I of the package covering 13 km was completed in August last. The second phase of the package is being taken up now at a cost of Rs 90.27 crore.

The second phase of work comprises construction of a concrete road between Kempuhole bridge and Addahole bridge and asphalting 21 km of road between Gulagale and Heggadde in Sakaleshpur taluk. Project contractor - GVR Infra Projects Ltd - has been set a deadline of April 15 to complete the work so that the stretch is open to vehicular traffic before the onset of the monsoon.

Work on 73 small bridges is already under way. The contractor has procured 60% of the raw materials including sand, cement and gravel  required for the road works, the officials said.

As many as seven alternative routes have been identified to facilitate vehicular movement between Bengaluru and Mangaluru once the Shiradi Ghat stretch is closed, the officials added.