Major Investment in Road Infrastructure, East-West Highway to Go Four-Lane in Five Years

Kathmandu — Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle has announced major plans and allocations for the road infrastructure sector through the budget. The government has set a target of blacktopping around 1,000 kilometres of road and building hundreds of road bridges in the upcoming fiscal year.

According to the Finance Minister, the 1,028-kilometre-long East-West Highway will be upgraded to four lanes within five years. The upgrading of the Kamala-Kanchanpur and Narayanghat-Butwal sections will be completed this year. In the coming year, further road upgrades will be carried out under the Kakarbhitta-Laukahi, Kamala-Bagmati, Butwal-Gorusinghe, and Dhankhola-Lamahi sections, while the upgrading of the Bagmati-Pathlaiya, Narayanghat-Hetauda, and Gorusinghe-Chandrauta sections will begin. A large sum has been allocated for the East-West Highway.

On the Kathmandu-Tarai/Madhesh Expressway, the government aims to complete dozens of bridges and a tunnel in the coming year and to begin construction of the expressway's link road. The Finance Minister said the Hulaki (Postal) Highway will be completed within the next three years, with work beginning to widen the highway through densely populated areas.

The budget also covers the upgrading of the Surkhet-Jumla-Gamgadhi road under the Karnali Highway, the completion of the Pushpalal Mid-Hill Highway within three years, and the blacktopping of 25 kilometres of road under the Madan Bhandari Highway.

The government has set a target of completing the construction and upgrading of major bridges on national highways within the next three years. The Finance Minister said the four-lane road from Aanbukhaireni in Tanahun to Pokhara under the Prithvi Highway will be completed soon, and that the Nagdhunga tunnel will come into operation from this coming Shrawan.

Blacktopping and gravelling work will be advanced on the Karnali, Kaligandaki, and Koshi corridors. The Galchhi-Syaphrubeshi-Rasuwagadhi road section will be upgraded. Construction of the Butwal-Pokhara section of the Siddhartha Highway will begin as an expressway, and the budget states that the Siddhababa tunnel will be completed within the coming fiscal year.

Special priority has been given to opening the track on the Darchula-Tinkar section of the Mahakali Corridor. The upgrading of the Mechi, Arun, Tamor, Bheri, and Seti corridors and the Khutiya-Dipayal road will be accelerated.

Under the Kathmandu Ring Road expansion, the government aims to begin expanding the Kalanki-Basundhara section and complete the design of the Basundhara-Chabahil-Koteshwar section. Feasibility studies will be carried out for various tunnels, including the Tokha-Chhahare tunnel.

To improve road safety, funds have been allocated to continue installing traffic signals, improving intersections, road marking, and installing crash barriers and dividers at major intersections.

On railways, construction of the railway from Bardibas to the expressway's starting point will be advanced, and funds have been set aside to complete the remaining work on the under-construction Bathnaha-Biratnagar and Janakpur-Jaynagar-Bardibas railways.

From the coming year, a nationwide campaign will be run to regularly maintain major urban roads, including those in the Kathmandu Valley, to make them dust- and pothole-free. The budget also includes provisions to build climate-resilient structures at high-risk points along highways and to promptly clear landslide-induced obstructions.

Similarly, the Finance Minister said the necessary arrangements will be made to operate a modern Blue Bus service equipped with CCTV cameras to ensure safe travel for women.