Hanspal Flyover, one of the much-awaited major infrastructure projects under National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) located on National Highway-16, will finally open in January 2025, and its opening will be much relief to commuters traveling between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. This flyover has been under construction for long, and after the completion, it is expected to offer efficient road safety improvements and reduce travel time.
Overview of the Hanspal Flyover Project
The Hanspal Flyover is proposed to be a six-lane bridge, which could reduce congestion on the highway and ensure smooth traffic flow. The flyover has been designed to ease a few critical bottlenecks in traffic near the area of Hanspal, an accident-prone zone near localities, which has been a concern of local residents and commuters for years.
Bhubaneswar Member of Parliament, Aparajita Sarangi, who has made a declaration in X (Twitter) social media saying that the flyover will be inaugurated on 21 January, 2025, said that she was glad this project finally ended, as this formed her very first initiative since her election in 2019.
With an estimated cost of ₹24.5 crore, this flyover marks a major milestone for the region, promising both enhanced road safety and a better commuting experience for locals and travelers alike.
Key Benefits of the Hanspal Flyover
The Hanspal Flyover offers numerous advantages, addressing both traffic congestion and safety concerns. Here’s how:
1. Reduced Travel Time
Among its many positives, the flyover will prove useful in shortening traveling time between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. The National Highway-16 corridor is always congested mainly during peak hours. The opening of the flyover gives the commuters a smoother faster route to travel between the two cities.
2. Improvement in Road Safety
Earlier, it was a hub for accidents, as people would cross and it was heavily crowded. The movement of traffic will be much more systematic now. With the help of this flyover, there will be very few chances of accidents. The underpasses provided for pedestrians and animals ensure the movement without interrupting vehicular movement.
3. Better connectivity to adjacent localities
This flyover will benefit not only the commuters traveling from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack. Improvement in infrastructure will benefit the local residents living in the adjacent areas, like Hanspal, Balianta, and the nearby areas. Local traffic, which earlier used to have a hard time merging with highway traffic, will now merge easily, thereby helping in overall comfort of daily commute.
4. Facilitating Different Kinds of Traffic
It will be catering to various types of traffic, which would vary from heavy vehicles to two-wheelers and pedestrian movement. Inclusion of underpasses is considered an important feature as it enables non-motorized users to cross safely, without being exposed to fast-moving vehicles. It is a place with a densely populated residential population.
Construction Time-Line and Challenges
The project had been held to be on schedule, which would result in its completion in 2022. However, several technical issues and contractor delays pushed the opening date forward by many years. Nevertheless, NHAI did not abandon the project. The road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said that the flyover will be ready by January 2025 and during December 2024.
This has brought about a lot of inconveniences especially in terms of traffic congestion during the build-up, though the new flyover will be a solution for the area for a long time.
Impact on Local People and Commuters
Local people from Amit Jena’s place from Hanspal are happy that the flyover is completed. He says, “It will definitely enhance the travel experience for commuters. Most importantly, pedestrians and animals will get safer underpasses to cross the highway now.” Such sentiments echo with collective relief of the people who have long waited for this development.
This will save time for commuters on the road as travel from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack becomes faster and saves time.
Conclusion
It would be a welcome event to both passengers and local residents if this flyover opens up because it would turn out to be a safer road with shorter travel times and increased general connectivity between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, in addition to finally promising a bright future for transportation in that area after years of delay.
The flyover is expected to save many hours for tens of thousands of people by saving time, as it supports the daily commutes of thousands, without any further increase in the minimum potential hazards on the roads.
Refer :
ET, Link to article
For more updates on the latest developments in the Urban Infrastructure sector, check out our article on NHAI to Build Flyover at Thiruvananthapuram to Ease Traffic