MYSORE: After launching the groundwork for the widening of some important stretches in the city to ease traffic, the civic authorities on Friday focussed on visitors' needs.Arterial road that connects Mysore railway station to the foothills of Chamundi Hills will now be upgraded. District minister S A Ramdas launched the works for the development of the stretch between the Ooty Road junction and the foothills via Suttur Mutt. Though the small stretch of 550 metre between Ooty Road junction and the foothills was proposed to be upgraded to 7 metre, it will now be developed with a central median and drain running along its sides.

 

This follows the plan of Mysore Urban Development Authority (Muda) plan to widen JLB Road from Ramaswamy junction to Ooty Road junction to facilitate the tourists to access the pilgrimage site. The 4km stretch is a crucial stretch connecting the city centre to the pilgrim site, and Rs 3 crore has been budgeted by the urban body this fiscal for the works. JLB Road stretch between Ramaswamy junction and Babu Jagjivan Ram junction abutting railway station was upgraded some 14 years ago to facilitate tourists heading towards KRS dam.

 

Once completed, the entire stretch -- from the railway station to the foothills -- will have a road of 15 metre width.According to the minister, the Muda-funded project will be launched by month-end. "Given the plans by the urban body, we've remodelled the road development project linking the Ooty Road to the foothills," the minster said. Initially, Rs 25 lakh was sanctioned for the project, which is now being doubled and the width of the stretch will be 7.5 metre.This comes after work to widen some of the important but crowded stretches in the city that take heavy load linking the city centre to residential areas was launched. Adichunchanagiri Road in Kuvempunagar, Mahadeshwara Road in Nazarbad, Rajkumar Road and Aravind Nagar Main Road are being upgraded at a cost of Rs 11.18 crore.