The road construction department is planning to stitch together major road projects to form a ring road encircling Patna to relieve city roads of unwanted pressure from vehicles pouring in from four directions of the capital.

The flow of vehicles from the outskirts of Patna, which criss-cross the city daily, was found to be one of the main reasons behind the congestion in the capital.

Seeing the regular traffic trauma, the road construction department is working on some major projects, combining which would lead to construction of a ring road-kind of a passage. This road would allow vehicles to cross Patna without touching the main city.

Road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav on Tuesday said: “The projects that are currently underway will make a ring road that would encircle Patna. This would relieve city commuters of the regular traffic hiccups. The entire stretch would look like the ring roads in the metro cities.”

The projects that would eventually lead in making a ring-road-like structure includes the upcoming Ganga driveway on the northern end of Patna, the proposed elevated road from Digha in north to Bhusaula in south, a four-lane road from Buxar passing through Ara-Patna and another four-lane Patna-Bakhtiyarpur road.

Explaining how the four projects would make a complete ring Yadav said: “When all the projects came on paper, especially the Ganga Driveway and Patna-Bakthiyarpur four-lane road, I thought of giving it a shape of a ring road by extending the Patna-Bakthiyarpur four-lane road and connecting it with Didarganj. At present, commuters coming from different sides of the city have to touch the city. This is when it clicked that we can create such a road, which would allow vehicles to reach their destinations without entering the city.

“In this way, the ring road will play a pivotal role in easing the vehicular movement and decongest the city. It would be four-lane which would facilitate to-and-fro vehicular movement. I am excited to see a ring road coming up in the capital,” the minister said.

As far as the status of the projects is concerned, the financial bidding of the Ganga driveway is scheduled on August 14. The ambitious project, which entails construction of a 20.5km-long road, will connect west Patna with the eastern end of the city. The driveway would be constructed at a cost of Rs 2,234.46 crore.

The minister added: “After the bidding is over, the driveway construction work will begin within six months. On the other hand, the detailed project report of the 4.5-km-long four-lane elevated road is being prepared. It would connect Bhusaula. From Bhusaula, it would be around 2.5-km four-lane road (Ara-Patna) to Sipara, from where the Patna-Bakhtiyarpur four-lane road would be connected.”

He added: “Once the Patna-Bakhtiyarpur road connects the eastern side of Didarganj, it would take the shape of a circle. All the projects would be completed by 2015-2016. As we cannot make more roads and bridges inside the city because of non-availability of land, the ring road is the only way to solve traffic problem.”

On the benefits of the around 45-km-long ring road, Yadav said: “The concept of the road is all about providing relief to the people. This road is the need of the hour keeping in mind the development of the capital.”

The minister elaborated how unnecessary vehicular movement clogs the city daily.

“People commuting from the western side have to take Bailey Road and some other important roads of the capital before heading north, south or east. To decongest the Bailey Road, it is important to create a ring road through which people coming from one end and going towards the other can avoid the city roads. Roads like Ashok Rajpath, Frazer Road, Exhibition Road, new bypass, old bypass and many others remain clogged all the time. Once the ring road is made, city commuters will have a joy ride,” he said.