UP: Outer Ring Road phase II to be ready by August-end

Lucknow: The construction of the 12km phase II of Outer Ring Road (ORR) connecting Faizabad Road to Sultanpur Road has entered its final leg. It is expected to be complete by August end, paving way for traffic decongestion in many parts of the city.

Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department (UPPWD) has completed the construction of girders required for the two railway overbridges (ROBs) falling on the road near Barabanki district.

“Now, it will take about a month for railways to lay pathways for the ROBs,” said an official. The rest of the work is complete, they added.

ORR is a dream project of Lucknow MP Rajnath Singh, whose representative Diwakar Tripathi told TOI, “Construction of ROBs is going on at a steady pace and the phase would open for public by the end of next month.”

Once the phase is complete, traffic coming from Faizabad Road will be able to go towards Sultanpur Road directly without entering Lucknow. Similarly, commuters coming from Shaheed Path towards Faizabad Road will have the option of going to Mohanlalganj directly. This will ease traffic congestion in areas like Chinhat, at Polytechnic crossing, Gomtinagar, Munshipulia and some parts of Jankipuram as well.

Construction of the second phase costing around Rs 300 crore had started in November 2018 and was to be completed by March 2020. It was delayed due to land acquisition issues in some parts falling on the way. Some delay was also caused by the lockdown.

Being constructed in five phases, the work of the 94km-long ORR had started in 2015 and was to be completed by 2021. However, the project got delayed due to several issues. Phase I from Lucknow to Sitapur constructed by UPPWD became functional in October 2018. The second phase, also under UPPWD, will be operational soon.

The remaining three phases are being constructed by National Highways Authorities of India (NHAI). Officials said that the authority has got approval for soil mining for the construction of the 25km third phase from Sultanpur Road to Mohanlalganj and construction will start soon. The construction of the fourth phase and fifth phase will begin later.

The entire ORR, once complete, will enable traffic coming from cities like Barabanki, Sultanpur, Sitapur, Kanpur, Hardoi and Faizabad bypass the state capital, thereby reducing traffic congestion and travel time.