Cuttack, Feb. 8: Come May, the much-awaited bridge over Kathajodi river will be thrown open to traffic, connecting the city to Bhubaneswar and reducing travel time significantly.

The three-lane bridge will also ease traffic congestion on National Highway-5, which at present is a major link between the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

It is estimated more than 50,000 vehicles ply through NH-5 from Cuttack to Bhubaneswar on a daily basis. The state works department is constructing the second bridge across the Kathajodi from CDA Square up to Trisulia near Barang.

Officials of the roads and building division of the works department said work on the 2.88-km long bridge, which is the longest and first of its kind three-lane structure in the state, was progressing at a fast pace. They said construction of its 68 pillars was completed last October and the remaining work would end by March.

"We've got all the pillars in place. We've also put in place almost all the slabs and are in the final phase to connect the river from edge to edge," said Pramod Kumar Nayak, executive engineer, roads and buildings (Cuttack division).

Constructed with assistance of National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), chief minister Naveen Patnaik had laid the foundation stone of the bridge on February 12, 2011. The bridge, scheduled for completion in three years, is running far behind time. The project fell a year behind schedule in 2012 when preliminary works such as survey and soil testing was delayed. Later, design change to enable uninterrupted work during rains led to further delay.

"Construction of the bridge will be completed by March end, but the approach roads from both ends will take another month to be ready," Nayak told The Telegraph today. He, however, said it was expected to allow traffic on the bridge in May.

"The bridge would reduce the distance between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar from 30km to 20km from Markatnagar to Jayadev Vihar via Trishulia and Nandankanan," said Chan-dni Chowk resident and daily commuter to Bhubaneswar, Durga Madhav Mishra.