Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, has sanctioned a total of 13 national highways covering 847 km which will be built in north Karnataka at a cost of Rs 21,000 crore. The construction of these highways will begin soon, as the projects have been approved by the Centre, after laying the foundation for the elevated corridor at Hubballi through video-conferencing from New Delhi. To be built at a cost of Rs 298 crore on the Hubballi-Dharwad bypass, the 3.6 km corridor will link National Highways 63 and 218 with National Highway 4, which connects Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Gadkari also laid the foundation of the 2.8 km 4-lane road and a minor bridge to be built near Dastikoppa at Kalaghatgi in Dharwad district at a cost of Rs 25 crore. He said a 4-lane ring road would also be built at Belagavi to ease vehicular traffic congestion in the city.