The Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) won the contract to build a 7.2-kilometres-long superhighway on the existing four-lane NH117, the Kona Expressway. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) valued the project to cost at ₹839.4 crores, but RVNL is expected to complete the task in ₹720.6 crores and 910 days.
The new stretch will end the year-round traffic woes on the highway. Moreover, NHAI will build a four-lane surface road to make it a ten-lane high-speed corridor for traffic movement to and from Kolkata. It will connect the Second Hooghly Bridge, Vidyasagar Setu, in the east with NH16 (former NH6) at Nibra in the west.
Over one lakh vehicles use the Kona Expressway and the narrower road overbridge on railway tracks daily. These travellers can save time by skipping the local traffic on the surface road below. Besides, Santragachhi, the upcoming biggest terminal for the South Eastern Railway, is also a significant congestion point. As buses terminate at Santragachhi, people park buses, cabs, and private cars along the Kona Expressway for ferry passengers to and from Kolkata, which causes severe bottlenecks.
The new highway will be an elevated viaduct to be constructed on a single row of piers, situated above significant congestion points like Santragachhi bus terminus, Shibpur, Santragachhi railway station, Carrie Road junction, and Canal Side Road.
