Prayagraj: The 9.9-km six-lane bridge connecting Stanley Road with Malak Harhar is now around 94% complete, with cross-barriers and bitumen work underway, raising hopes that the much-awaited Ganga crossing will be handed over to the district administration by Oct. Vehicle trials on the bridge are expected to begin in Sep, provided construction is not disrupted by flooding.The bridge, being constructed under the ministry of road transport and highways, is among the city’s key infrastructure projects and is expected to provide a major alternative route for traffic moving towards Lucknow, Pratapgarh, Sultanpur and Ayodhya. More than 5 km of the overall stretch runs directly over the Ganga.
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The project began in Feb 2021.According to project officials, work on five remaining segments is almost complete and the focus has now shifted to finishing activities, including laying bitumen and installing cross barriers. Project director Sunil Singla said 94% of the work was complete and finishing work was expected to take another one-and-a-half months.As per the construction schedule, trial runs for vehicles are likely to commence in Sep after completion of the remaining work. Following successful trials, the bridge is expected to be handed over to the administration by Oct for opening to traffic.Officials, however, said the possibility of flooding in Ganga could temporarily affect the pace of construction. Any rise in the river level during the monsoon may create challenges for workers and delay some finishing activities, though the agency is hopeful of sticking to the revised timeline.Once operational, the bridge is expected to ease pressure on existing crossings and roads, particularly the Phaphamau bridge and routes towards Teliarganj, which frequently witness traffic congestion.The district administration has also been working on improving the bridge’s connectivity with the city. A roughly 2 km elevated road has been proposed from Kalash Crossing on Stanley Road to the UPPSC crossing to ensure smoother traffic movement and prevent congestion on the busy Stanley Road stretch after the new bridge becomes operational.
