Kathmandu, December 1:

The existing two-lane road from Tinkune, Kathmandu, to Suryabinayak, Bhaktapur, will be expanded to a six-lane stretch in the next two-and-a-half years.

The Kathmandu-Bhaktapur Road Improvement Project (KBRIP) began work to widen the road last week, though the Japanese Ambassador and the Minister for Physical Planning and Works are scheduled to inaugurate the construction formally tomorrow.

The Japanese government has provided a grant of Rs 1,770 million and the Nepal government has allocated Rs 210 million for the completion of the work. The project has already spent Rs 52 million to relocate the existing infrastructure at the site of construction.

Sunil Poudel, senior divisional engineer at Department of Roads, said, “The 9.1-km stretch is likely to be ready in 30 months.”

According to Poudel, the construction work up to the Manohara Bridge at Jadibuti, including laying foundation for the bridge, will be over by May. The construction work up to Hanumante Bridge at Thimi will be over by May 2010 after which work on the stretch up to Suryabinayak will begin.

The technical teams will visit Nepal when required, while four Nepali engineers have been given the responsibility to oversee the construction.

The Japanese contractors would bring all the required machines from Japan while construction materials such as cement would be bought from Nepal’s neighbouring countries.

He added that Japanese team would construct four more lanes while the Nepal side would have to take care of the pavements and other work.

The new road will have asphalt concrete pavement with three-metre median in normal section and three-metre shoulder to manage traffic barriers. There will be five intersections at Jadibuti, Gatthaghar, Thimi, Sallaghari and Suryabinayak, of which three will have traffic signals. There will be 11 access roads other than intersections and bus stops at 14 locations.