Mangaluru: The road leading from KPT to Mangaluru airport will soon be concretised as work is set to begin on a 500-metre stretch near Maravoor bridge.The stretch that falls under Ward 14, Marakada ward, will become four-lane. It was the only remaining or pending portion on the route to the airport from KPT Junction without a concrete surface. The project is being taken up under the Mahatma Gandhi Nagara Vikas Yojane 2.0.District minister Dinesh Gundu Rao laid the foundation stone for the Rs 9-crore road project on Saturday. The work is among 25 development projects worth Rs 165 crore launched across the Mangaluru City Corporation limits. It comes under package 1 out of five.Residents and regular commuters have been demanding that the stretch be improved as it was difficult to navigate during and after the monsoon because of potholes and damaged surfaces. The poor condition of the road often slowed traffic and caused inconvenience to airport-bound passengers.Officials said the work will begin after trees are cleared and removal of encroachments by the roadside. The project is expected to take about three months to complete. As part of the project, apart from concretisation of the road, drainage facilities and retaining walls will also be constructed.Authorities said steps would be taken to minimise inconvenience to travellers during the construction. One side of the existing road will remain open to traffic so that airport commuters and other road users can continue to use the route. Locals welcomed the project, saying the stretch between Marakada and Maravoor bridge has become a difficult stretch for commuters. They said earlier repair works offered only temporary relief and the damaged road posed risks to both two-wheeler riders and motorists.Ravichandra Poojary, a resident, said people hoped that the concretisation would finally end their long-standing difficulties.Meanwhile, another concretisation project was launched on Saturday covering the Valencia-Gorigudda stretch.
