Jamshedpur: Commuters can soon look forward to a smooth ride on the 18km-Tata-Hata state highway-6 that connects steel city with Chaibasa in West Singhbhum and neighbouring Odisha.
The state road construction department has already started relaying work on the important artery, which in construction parlance is referred to as surface renewal, to improve riding quality. More than 10,000 vehicles including two-wheelers, cars, long-distance buses and trucks use the road daily.
Sanjay Kumar Singh, executive engineer of the road construction department said, "The surface renewal work, which would be carried out on the entire stretch, will take six months."
Singh added the department had sanctioned Rs 12.5 lakh to begin work. "Safety signages and modular speed breakers would be put on different stretches to reduce mishaps," he said.
The senior official said the project was being carried out as per the department's Improvement of Riding Quality Programme (IRQP).
"Upkeep was necessary as the highway was filled with potholes and craters. It is the only state highway under the jurisdiction of the department's Jamshedpur circle," he added.
Movement of vehicles has increased manifold on the highway in the last couple of years after it was broadened. Consequently, there has been a spurt in accidents, too.
Last year, crash barriers were installed on both sides of the highway to prevent accidents. Concrete paver blocks were also put up on both flanks of the highway for smooth movement of pedestrians.
Many people from Jamshedpur use the artery to reach Chaibasa, Noamundi and Odisha via Haldipokhar and Baripada.
Commuters are happy with the development. "Potholes had developed on several stretches of the highway after last year's monsoon resulting in mishaps. Commuters would definitely be benefited once the road becomes smooth. This will also save travel time," said Anup Kispotta, a resident of Sundernagar near here, who uses the highway daily to reach Hata where he teaches in a government school.