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A big relief news has emerged for lakhs of daily commuters, drivers and local residents traveling daily on the busiest national highway (NH-27) connecting Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow and industrial city Kanpur. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways have given final approval to a massive infrastructure project worth ₹ 107 crore to provide a permanent solution to the daily traffic jams, fatal road accidents at crossing points and pedestrian problems on the Lucknow-Kanpur Highway. Under this scheme, modern vehicular underpasses (VUP), pedestrian underpasses (PUP) and foot over bridges (FOBs) with lifts will be constructed at the most sensitive black spots and densely populated intersections of the highway. According to NHAI officials, the tendering process and ground soil testing of the project has been completed and the construction work with heavy machines will be started on the ground soon after the auspicious festival of Diwali.
Due to rapid urbanization on Lucknow-Kanpur National Highway, connection of Outer Ring Road (Kisan Path) and expansion of industrial units, the pressure of vehicles has increased three times more than the capacity. With this ₹107 crore budget, the following major structures will be constructed on the highway:
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Vehicular Underpass (VUP): Four-lane vehicular underpasses will be built at very busy intersections like Banthra, Junabganj and Sohramau. With this, the straight through traffic of the highway will be able to pass at a speed of 80 to 100 km per hour without stopping, while two-wheeler and four-wheeler vehicles coming from local towns, markets and link roads will be able to pass safely under the underpass without any jam.
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Pedestrian Underpass and Footover Bridge (FOB): Modern footover bridges will be built near Amausi Airport Mod, Scooter India Square and Sarojini Nagar Market. For the convenience of the elderly, women and patients, the facility of escalators or lifts is also being included on both sides so that pedestrians do not have to risk their lives by passing between the fast-moving vehicles on the highway.
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Widening of service lanes and drainage network: A 7-7 meter wide paved service lane will be built on both sides of the underpass. Apart from this, concrete RCC drains will be constructed to deal with waterlogging on the highway during monsoon.
According to the joint survey of Lucknow Traffic Police and NHAI, Banthra and Junabganj intersection are counted among the most sensitive ‘accident prone black spots’ (accident prone areas) of the state. Here, heavy trucks and dumpers going towards Mohanlalganj, Rae Bareli Road and Unnao cross the highway, causing huge traffic jams of 20 to 30 minutes every day during peak hours and accidents often occur due to being hit by speeding vehicles. With the construction of the new underpass, an intersection-free corridor will be created. Long distance buses, ambulances and cars will be able to pass directly without any signal or interruption, which will reduce the travel time from Lucknow’s Shaheed Path towards Kanpur by about 25 minutes.
The project will serve as a complementary network with the 63 km long access-controlled Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway (NE-6) under construction. While the new expressway will primarily connect long distance inter-city and commercial traffic between the two cities in just 35 to 40 minutes, the existing old NH-27 highway will remain the lifeline of the local population, Sarojini Nagar, Banthra, Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary and surrounding rural towns. Due to the modernization of the old highway through this project of ₹ 107 crore, the local markets will also be safe and even after the construction of the expressway, there will be no chaos or jam on the old route.
According to the regional office of NHAI, the construction work will start after Diwali with widening of service lanes and route diversion so that vehicular movement on the main carriageway is not completely disrupted. A smooth diversion plan is already being prepared in collaboration with the traffic police. The construction agency has been given a time limit of 12 to 14 months, that is, by the end of the coming year 2027, all the underpasses and footover bridges will be completely prepared and opened to the public. The Public Works Department (PWD) of the Uttar Pradesh government and the district administration have issued permission for shifting of electric poles and underground pipelines from the project site. This construction will start a new chapter of connectivity and security at the southern entrance of the capital Lucknow.