Motorists travelling from north to south in the city regularly can hope for a snarl-free drive on the ambitious Digha-AIIMS elevated road in the not too distant future.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar would lay the foundation stone for the ambitious road project at Water and Land Management Institute, Phulwari, on November 1. The road would connect Digha (on the northwest corner of the city) to AIIMS in the south.

Road construction department secretary Pratyaya Amrit said: “The work for the ambition Ganga driveway started on Saptami. The work for Digha-AIIMS elevated road will start on Dhanteras.”

He also said: “This is the second biggest project of the road construction department after the Ganga driveway. Gammon India Ltd has been awarded the construction work.”

Amrit said the stipulated time to complete the project was three years but he was hopeful that it would not take more than two-and-a-half years.

“Constructing an elevated road takes less time than a bridge. Parts of the road would be constructed using pre-fabricated material. Only the pillars would be constructed at the site. The main structure would be constructed elsewhere and assembled at the site,” he said.

The project entails construction of 11.9km semi-elevated/elevated road from AIIMS (on NH-98) to Digha (on Ganga driveway). It will come on the western side of Patna and would connect with the Sonepur-Digha rail-cum-road bridge. From AIIMS, 3km of the road would be semi-elevated. The two-lane road would meet the Bailey Road flyover, between Jagdeo Path and Saguna Mor. The rest of the road would be an elevated, four-lane driveway.

Amrit said: “The road would also have noise barriers as it will pass through populated areas.”