Hyderabad: ORR service road to get better, brighter

LED lights proposed on Nanakramguda-Telangana State Police Academy, Narsingi-Kollur stretch

Hyderabad: Even as the 158-km Outer Ring Road (ORR) continues to win laurels at the way it has been evolving with aesthetic green development and bright illumination, efforts are now on to improve the service roads that ring along the access-controlled expressway.

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) is focusing on the ORR service roads and has proposed LED street lighting on some parts of it. According to HMDA officials, the works on equipping the service roads with energy-saving street lighting would be taken up on two of the service road stretches connecting the city, and completed at the earliest.

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The LED street lighting for the inner service road from Nanakramguda to Telangana State Police Academy (8.5 km) and on both sides of the service road from Narsingi to Kollur (27 km) is expected to be completed in three months, say officials.

“The estimated contract value of the entire works is over Rs 9.45 crore and we want to illuminate the ORR service roads by July,” said an official. The design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of LED street lighting will be taken care of by the agency that will be awarded the contract, he said.

In recent years, given the growth of both residential and office and commercial growth on the outskirts, the usage of the ORR service roads has gone up considerably. With the traffic volumes steadily increasing, the authorities are now on the job of further improving the service roads to ensure better driving conditions.

Several people working in Gachibowli, Hitec City, Nanakramguda, Kondapur and other locations use these service roads regularly to reach various parts of the city from their workplaces. To match the growing traffic on these roads, the Hyderabad Growth Corridor Limited (HGCL), a wing of HMDA, has already completed the widening of the Nanakramguda-Telangana State Police Academy and Narsingi-Kollur stretches. These two-lane service roads have been widened to four lanes with an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore.

The widening has been done with lane carriageways, footpaths, central medians, drains and greenery. “While the road widening works were taken up, the trees along the stretches were translocated,” said the official. Along the service roads too, lush greenery has been developed and sculptures have also been installed to further beautify the stretches.