<p>Bengaluru: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is set to begin work on a 700-metre-long underpass at Sadahalli in northern Bengaluru, which will remove the only signal between Hebbal and the Kempegowda International Airport. </p>.<p>The Rs 35-crore project is expected to start by early January and take 15 months to complete. </p>.<p>The six-lane underpass will sit about six metres below the road level and include drainage, a median strip and landscaping, said KB Jayakumar, Project Director (Bengaluru), NHAI. </p>.<p>"Sadahalli is the gateway to the city of Bengaluru. We want to make it seamless and aesthetically pleasing," he told <em>DH</em>. </p>.<p>Pending for years, the underpass will eliminate the signal for airport-bound vehicles, he noted. </p>.Bengaluru airport to reintroduce 'overstaying fees' for arrival pickups from December 8.<p>It will be located about 500 metres from the Sadahalli toll plaza towards the city, with a surface-level circular roundabout to offer "seamless connectivity" for local traffic. </p>.<p>Construction will use the cut-and-cover method for approximately 50 metres. To ease congestion during the work, the NHAI is creating four service lanes on each side of the highway. </p>.<p>"There are already two lanes. We will add two more using 3–4 metres of the green patch," Jayakumar said. </p>.<p><strong>Busiest toll plaza</strong></p>.<p>Despite a tollable distance of just 22.12 km, the toll plaza on National Highway 44 generates Rs 95 lakh to Rs 1 crore in daily revenue, driven largely by vehicles heading to and from the airport, according to the NHAI. With daily traffic of nearly one lakh, it is the busiest toll plaza in Karnataka. </p>.<p>By comparison, another NH 44 toll plaza with a tollable distance of 72 km up to the Andhra Pradesh border generates only Rs 36 lakh a day. </p>.<p>"This toll plaza mainly serves airport traffic. Not many trucks pass through it. Other commercial traffic from Hyderabad to Chennai now uses the Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR)," an NHAI official stated. </p>.<p>Despite heavy volumes, the toll plaza doesn't have high wait times. "The infrastructure is adequate for now, but we'll decide on expanding the booths once the underpass is ready," the official added. </p>.<p>Cars, jeeps, vans and other light motor vehicles pay Rs 120 for a single journey and Rs 180 for a return journey within a day. A monthly pass for 50 single journeys will cost Rs 3,970. </p>.<p><strong>UPI relief for non-FASTag users</strong></p>.<p>Non-FASTag users will get a 75% discount on the penalty if they pay toll charges via UPI, the NHAI said. </p>.<p>Vehicles entering a toll plaza without a valid, functional FASTag are normally charged double the toll. With UPI, they will be charged 1.25 times. </p>.<p>"We've installed dynamic QR codes at all toll plazas," the official added. </p>
<p>Bengaluru: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is set to begin work on a 700-metre-long underpass at Sadahalli in northern Bengaluru, which will remove the only signal between Hebbal and the Kempegowda International Airport. </p>.<p>The Rs 35-crore project is expected to start by early January and take 15 months to complete. </p>.<p>The six-lane underpass will sit about six metres below the road level and include drainage, a median strip and landscaping, said KB Jayakumar, Project Director (Bengaluru), NHAI. </p>.<p>"Sadahalli is the gateway to the city of Bengaluru. We want to make it seamless and aesthetically pleasing," he told <em>DH</em>. </p>.<p>Pending for years, the underpass will eliminate the signal for airport-bound vehicles, he noted. </p>.Bengaluru airport to reintroduce 'overstaying fees' for arrival pickups from December 8.<p>It will be located about 500 metres from the Sadahalli toll plaza towards the city, with a surface-level circular roundabout to offer "seamless connectivity" for local traffic. </p>.<p>Construction will use the cut-and-cover method for approximately 50 metres. To ease congestion during the work, the NHAI is creating four service lanes on each side of the highway. </p>.<p>"There are already two lanes. We will add two more using 3–4 metres of the green patch," Jayakumar said. </p>.<p><strong>Busiest toll plaza</strong></p>.<p>Despite a tollable distance of just 22.12 km, the toll plaza on National Highway 44 generates Rs 95 lakh to Rs 1 crore in daily revenue, driven largely by vehicles heading to and from the airport, according to the NHAI. With daily traffic of nearly one lakh, it is the busiest toll plaza in Karnataka. </p>.<p>By comparison, another NH 44 toll plaza with a tollable distance of 72 km up to the Andhra Pradesh border generates only Rs 36 lakh a day. </p>.<p>"This toll plaza mainly serves airport traffic. Not many trucks pass through it. Other commercial traffic from Hyderabad to Chennai now uses the Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR)," an NHAI official stated. </p>.<p>Despite heavy volumes, the toll plaza doesn't have high wait times. "The infrastructure is adequate for now, but we'll decide on expanding the booths once the underpass is ready," the official added. </p>.<p>Cars, jeeps, vans and other light motor vehicles pay Rs 120 for a single journey and Rs 180 for a return journey within a day. A monthly pass for 50 single journeys will cost Rs 3,970. </p>.<p><strong>UPI relief for non-FASTag users</strong></p>.<p>Non-FASTag users will get a 75% discount on the penalty if they pay toll charges via UPI, the NHAI said. </p>.<p>Vehicles entering a toll plaza without a valid, functional FASTag are normally charged double the toll. With UPI, they will be charged 1.25 times. </p>.<p>"We've installed dynamic QR codes at all toll plazas," the official added. </p>
