Cuttack: The public works department (PWD)'s Rs 2.17-crore four-lane project for expansion of road from Cantonment Road to Biju Patnaik Chhak, which has been running behind schedule by a year, has entered its last leg with the electricity office relocating its boundary wall that had come on its way.

The expansion project was undertaken on a 2km stretch from Cantonment Road near Barabati Stadium to Biju Patnaik Chhak in January 2017 with a deadline of May 2017. PWD's roads and buildings division in Cuttack completed work on almost the entire stretch by December last year. However, work could not be taken up on a 50m stretch due to delay in relocating the circle office of the Central Electricity Supply Utility (Cesu) there.

Further construction of the new road to connect it with Biju Patnaik Chhak was not possible as a portion of eastern and the entire southern boundary wall of the Cesu circle office fell on it.

A roads and buildings official said apart from the 50m stretch, the entire road had been widened to 7.5 metres on both sides of the median.

"To go ahead with the road expansion, the existing southern boundary wall of the Cesu office had to be demolished and shifted around 12ft northwards. The work has finally been done with the Cesu finally agreeing to free up its land. Now, we just need to shift some poles and demolish a guard's room and some other minor structures that were part of the Cesu campus," said a roads and buildings official on condition of anonymity.

He hoped that the entire work would be over by this month.

A Cesu official also said they would shortly be able to relocate the poles for the road expansion.

Cesu agreed only after an understanding was reached that the roads and buildings division would demolish the boundary wall and rebuild it 12 feet northwards by spending its own money.