Ring Road upgradation from next March
KATHMANDU, DEC 20 -
Upgrading of the Ring Road in the Kathmandu valley is scheduled to start next March with a grant assistance from China. The Department of Roads signed an agreement with the Chinese contractor Shanghai Construction Group Company on Tuesday to improve a section of the highway that encircles the cities of Kathmandu and Lalitpur.
As per the pact, a 9-km stretch from Koteshwor to Kalanki will be improved. The project will be carried out as a “grant” of China to Nepal. It is expected to cost Rs 4 billion and be completed in three years, according to the Department of Roads.
A five-member team of officials of Shanghai Construction Group was in Nepal to sign the contract. As per department officials, the road improvement project will upgrade the current four-lane road to eight lanes with a four-lane carriageway that will also include a two-way relief road, two-way bicycle track and two-way pedestrian path.
In February last year, China had agreed to widen the existing four-lane Ring Road to eight lanes. In the first phase, the Koteshwor-Kalanki section will be upgraded based on the design readied by the Third Railway Survey and Design Institute Group Corporation, a Chinese consultant.
“We will request the Chinese government for additional aid to improve the rest of the Ring Road after the first phase moves ahead,” said Tulasi Prasad Sitaula, secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning, Works and Transport Management. He added that the improvement work would be carried out on a phase-wise basis with China’s annual grant assistance to Nepal.
The government has been planning to upgrade the entire 27-km length of the Ring Road in three phases. The northern neighbour has increased its annual assistance to Nepal from RMB 150 million to RMB 200 after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to Kathmandu in January this year.
The first phase of the widening plan includes intersection improvement at three locations and construction of bus stations and parking lots. The three junctions are Kalanki, Satdobato and Koteshwor which will be improved to allow uninterrupted flow of vehicles.
The overhead pedestrian bridge at Kalanki, which was built last year amid controversy, will be demolished under the improvement project.
Under the agreement with the Chinese contractor, Nepal is required to clear the right of way on the side of the carriageway, provide space for the contractor to keep its equipment and provide accommodation to around 200 Chinese employees. Sitaula said that they were exploring suitable government land for the contractor to keep its equipment and house its workers.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
