Answer to traffic woes, Mohali-Kurali 6-lane Greenfield Corridor set for December 1 launch

Representative image

The 31-km Mohali-Kharar-Kurali bypass, part of the new Chandigarh-Ambala Greenfield Corridor, will open on December 1, after missing three previous deadlines. This new six-lane highway is expected to significantly reduce traffic congestion on Airport Road in Mohali.

The NH-205A Greenfield Corridor has been built under the Government of India’s Bharatmala Pariyojana at an estimated cost of ₹1,400 crore.

Spanning close to 31 km, the new highway starts from Mohali’s IT Chowk and runs up to Kurali, where it further connects with the Siswan–Baddi stretch. The corridor will provide a direct, faster route for traffic bound for Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

According to officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), work had earlier been held up because of high-tension power lines in the Kurali region.

They said construction is now complete, with road markings, signage installation and other finishing tasks expected to be wrapped up in the coming days.

According to a report by The Indian Express, officials said trial runs will be conducted on November 29 and 30, before it opens for public from December 1. Meanwhile, limited vehicular movement has already begun on the road.

New Greenfield Corridor to ease traffic

Experts believe the new Greenfield corridor will streamline traffic between Baddi, New Chandigarh and Mohali, the report added. It will reduce commute time and provide a major boost to industrial and commercial activity in the route and the region.

Engineers associated with the project were quoted by the IE as saying that safety standards were prioritized, with state-of-the-art technology, service lanes, modern lighting systems and advanced signboards installed across the stretch.

“The roadwork is almost complete. The pending stretch of around 100–150 metres near Kurali has also been finished. The premix work will be completed in a day or two, and the corridor will be opened for traffic on December 1,” NHAI Project Manager Gaurav was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

The construction, undertaken by a Maharashtra-based firm, began in October 2022. But heavy rainfall and flooding in Punjab pushed the project past its original June and September deadlines.

The project serves as a replacement for the previously planned Kharar–Banur–Tepala Road, which was shelved due to high costs. The new bypass is now being regarded as a potential future lifeline for the Chandigarh–Mohali region.

NHAI has installed a fully automated toll plaza at Bajhedi village, equipped with eight lanes on each side and an additional lane for oversized vehicles. Toll deductions will occur automatically as vehicles drive through, removing the need for on-ground staff. Only two monitoring cabins have been constructed to oversee operations.

The new corridor is expected to:

• Reduce travel time between Chandigarh, Mohali, Kurali, Ambala and nearby hill areas.
• Ease congestion for daily commuters along the Mohali–Kharar–Kurali stretch.
• Speed up freight movement to industrial centres in Derabassi, Laldu, Baddi, Rajpura and Barwala.
• Enhance the logistics network across Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.