NHAI begins Sadahalli Junction overpass work on Bengaluru airport road

The National Highways Authority of India has started work on a vehicular overpass at Sadahalli Junction on NH-44, clearing a persistent bottleneck on Bengaluru's primary route to Kempegowda International Airport.

Sadahalli Junction holds the only traffic signal on the 22-kilometre expressway run between Hebbal and the airport corridor. The new elevated structure will let airport-bound traffic and long-distance vehicles heading toward Andhra Pradesh bypass local cross-traffic entirely.

More than 110,000 vehicles cross the adjacent Sadahalli toll plaza every day. The Bengaluru Traffic Police Department has approved detour plans for the construction zone, and NHAI expects to finish the overpass by mid-2027, subject to ground and weather conditions.

What is changing on the ground

Motorists travelling north from central Bengaluru encounter heavy weaving near the toll gate as airport taxis, trucks, and interstate buses bunch up at the signal. The new structure separates through traffic from local turns leading to surrounding settlements.

NHAI has advised commuters to follow designated signboards and traffic police directions while construction machinery occupies the central carriageway. The overpass meets a long-pending demand from frequent flyers, logistics operators, and local residents seeking uninterrupted transit on the corridor.

Nationwide quality rules for complex highway structures

The local start in Bengaluru coincides with a major engineering governance push from headquarters. From 1 December, NHAI has mandated independent proof-checking of designs and structural drawings for all bridges, viaducts, tunnels, and other complex assets where design work has not yet started.

Under the policy, contractors building projects under EPC, HAM, or BOT models must hire independent checkers from an empanelled list of Indian Institutes of Technology, government engineering institutions, or specialised private firms at their own expense. These consultants must audit calculations, structural blueprints, and hydraulic assessments before designs go up for formal approval.

To ensure uniformity, the highway authority has introduced standard checklists that scrutinise structural integrity against Indian Roads Congress standards:

Upgrading existing bridges

The engineering overhaul follows a broader drive to ensure modern highway assets achieve a design life of at least a century. In August, the central government informed Parliament that engineers had identified structural distress in 471 national highway bridges across the country.

By enforcing third-party institutional audits on new structures while repairing older spans, NHAI is tightening quality control across India's expanding highway network. On the ground in Bengaluru, the priority is delivering a seamless, signal-free run to the terminal gates.