For far too long, this was a road too far, an undulating stretch of National Highway 30 that connected Patna with Bakhtiarpur, the gateway to Jharkhand and Bengal.

It was less of a highway, passing through densely populated areas, including Fatuha market, leading to frequent traffic snarls. But with the new spanking four-lane road ready, the driving experience is set for a radical change.

Once it is formally inaugurated on September 15, the road will do more than just connect two parts of Patna district.

It will also fast-track movement of goods and people all the way from the eastern heartland to Bengal, Jharkhand and even far corners of the Northeast.

The 50.65km-long four-lane road has been built in less than 24 months at a cost of Rs 574 crore by a private firm under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) mode. A drive through this road would require payment of toll tax, the rates of which are yet to be finalised.

Local residents — those residing at places falling on either side of the stretch — would get relief on toll payment. They would be given monthly passes at a subsidised rate. The stretch would have underpasses at seven points to save the commuters from the congestion of localities falling along the road.

The road also assumes significance for the upcoming bridge across the river Ganga at Bakhtiarpur from where one can cross over to reach Tajpur in Samastipur district. The construction work of the bridge is likely to be completed by 2017.

Opening of this bridge would reduce load on the dilapidated Mahatma Gandhi Setu as vehicles coming from Jharkhand as well as from Bengal can cross the river at Bakhtiarpur itself. The Gandhi Setu is, in fact, in need of critical repair, many of its spans having come loose along the hinges. The Bihar government is planning two new parallel bridges to link Patna to north Bihar — one from Digha to Sonepur and another from Kachchi Dargah to Vaishali.

Text by Amit Bhelari, picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh