Ring Road widening to begin in two months
KATHMANDU, MAR 06 -
Widening of the Kathmandu valley’s Ring Road is slated to begin within the next two months. A team of Shanghai Construction Group Company Limited, the contractor, is arriving in Nepal for preparatory work next week.
The team will select one of the government-provided locations and set up an office, housing facility for workers and a station for their machineries and equipment, according to the Ministry of Physical Planning Works and Transport Management. The team is arriving on March 15.
In December last year, the Department of Roads and the Chinese contractor had signed a pact for upgrading the 9-km Koteshwor-Kalanki stretch of the 27-km Ring Road. The existing four-lane road will be upgraded 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, as per the contract.
“As part of our duty to provide space, some locations, including Khumaltar of Lalitpur, have been selected for contractors,” said Tulasi Prasad Sitaula, secretary at the Physical Planning Ministry. He added the contractor’s team would select one of the locations for setting up their hub and start work.
Under the Ring Road improvement plan, the government plans to upgrade the whole Ring Road in three phases with China’s annual grant assistance. The northern neighbour has been providing RMB 200 million annually since Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s Kathmandu’s visit in January last year. Earlier, the amount was RMB 150 million annually.
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. It will take 40 months for the completion of the first phase, Karki said.
In February 2011, China had agreed to widen the road based on a bilateral agreement. As per the agreement, Nepal will have to clear the right of way (RoW) on the stretch, provide borrow pit (for digging to dig gravel, soil, and sand) and give location to contractor to house its machineries and workforce of around 200 individuals. The project is estimated to cost Rs 4 billion.
Madhav Karki, deputy director general of the road department, said the main construction team would arrive by April-end. “Initially, the contractor will upgrade 2 km as model improvement,” he said, adding the Balkhu River-UML Headquarter and Ekantakuna-Gwarko sections have been selected to develop 1 km each as model road.
The 9-km road widening plan also includes intersection improvement in three locations, bus stations and parking lots. The three junctions — Kalanki, Satdobato and Kotestwor — will be improved for uninterrupted operation of vehicles. The Physical Planning Ministry said the existing overheard bridge at Kalanki would also be incorporated in improvement plan if possible, otherwise will be demolished.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
