The road construction department has decided to convert the existing two-lane road from Zero Mile to Masaurhi into a four-lane one. The road would be constructed from the central road fund (CRF) of Rs 416 crore.

Four-laning of the road will benefit people as an inter-state bus terminal (ISBT) is coming up on the same stretch in the next year.

Seeing the possible increase in traffic pressure given the rising number of vehicles, the department has decided to convert the road from a two-lane one to a four-lane one with a total length of 38 km.

“The state cabinet has given administrative approval for the project,” road construction department minister Nand Kishore Yadav said.

A swanky bus stand, on the pattern of bus terminals in Delhi, is coming up on the outskirts of Patna on the Patna-Gaya Road near Bariya. It is spread over 26 acres. Four-laning of the road will play an important role because every day around 3,000 buses will be operated from the ISBT. Even the current bus stand in Meethapur will be shifted to the new bus terminal.

“The present Masaurhi road is narrow and most of the time it faces huge traffic jam,” Nand Kishore said.

“Once the bus terminal becomes functional, thousands of buses will come from north Bihar and then it would be difficult to cope with the traffic chaos. From south of Zero Mile the road goes to Gaya via Masaurhi and if the road is not widened, there will be huge traffic problems.”

Four-laning of the Patna-Gaya Dobhi section on NH 83 is already going on.

Even the Patna Metro will pass through the place where four-laning is taking place.

While the west-east corridor will run between Danapur area and Patna Junction via Dakbungalow Square, the south-north corridor will run between the ISBT.

The minister said the four-laning will start this financial year itself and the project will be completed in at least two years.

Nand Kishore stressed that once the present bus-stand shifts, the distance from the bus stand and Patna Junction will increase automatically. The ministry has thus decided to make an elevated road on Badsahi Nala from Nandlal Chhapra (New bypass) to Illahibag, where the bus terminal is.

“People can easily go from the bus stand to the railway station through this elevated road. We are working on the detail project report (DPR) and will soon come out with the tender. Most importantly, Patna’s population is going to touch 60 lakh in 2031 and we have to construct roads accordingly. All this will become part of the Patna Ring Road project,” Nand Kishore stressed. Patna’s population is around 22 lakh now.