The Roads and Buildings Department has decided to shelve Expressways, the project included in Vision 2020 by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The project will not be taken up in the near future in view of the huge cost involved. One km of expressway would cost Rs 10 crore. Instead, the department has decided to focus on four and six lane roads under the North-South Corridor (784 km passing through the state), roads (up to state borders) leading to major metros like Mumbai and Bangalore besides major towns within the state.
Four laning of NH-5 near Vijaywada in progress
Towards this end, the department has proposed to widen the National Highway from Hyderabad to Sangareddy and beyond up to 120 km and Hyderabad-Bangalore Highway up to 450 km in phases besides the Hyderabad-Vijayawada road into four lane at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore. There is also a proposal to widen the National Highway leading to Mumbai into six-lane from Hyderabad to Kandi village in Medak.
According to V. Murahari Reddy, Managing Director, Road Development Corporation, "We have plans to convert the existing 1,800 km of National Highways at different places into four and six lanes. At present we are not taking up any Expressway."
