Underpasses & Footbridges on Lucknow-Kanpur Corridor to Roll Out by Diwali

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Commuters navigating the heavily congested Lucknow-Kanpur National Highway are set to receive major safety and mobility upgrades, as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) prepares to initiate ground construction on a ₹107-crore infrastructure revamp immediately after Diwali. Sanctioned by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the project directly targets accident-prone accident blackspots and persistent pedestrian crossing hazards across key urban-rural junctions in Unnao district, with an execution target set for 18 months.

Curbing Bottlenecks at Nawabganj Tiraha, Dahi Chowki, and Tribhuvan Kheda

The infrastructure blueprint focuses on redesigning chronic traffic chokepoints where regional industrial traffic conflicts with highway speeds:

Dual Underpass Construction: Dedicated vehicular underpasses will be developed at Nawabganj Tiraha and Dahi Chowki, segregating heavy freight traffic from local village commuters and cutting accident risks.

Flyover at Tribhuvan Kheda: Addressing sustained demands from local residents and regional public representatives, a flyover will be constructed at Tribhuvan Kheda to allow long queues of heavy cargo trucks to pass underneath while preserving smooth vehicular flow above.

Pre-Construction Work Underway: Utility shifting has already begun on site, alongside environmental clearance procedures to relocate trees across three hectares of forest land adjoining Nawabganj and Dahi Chowki. Construction of parallel service roads is scheduled to start within 15 days.

Modern Box-Pushing Engineering, 24-Hour Skylights, and Advanced Drainage

To construct the underground structures without shutting down critical freight movement along the busy trunk route, NHAI will deploy specialized engineering methods:

55-Meter Box-Pushing Technique: The main underpass box structure—measuring roughly 12 meters in width and over 5 meters in height—will be inserted beneath the active roadway using a 55-meter pushback methodology, similar to ongoing urban execution by the UP Bridge Corporation at Lucknow's Alambagh Awadh crossing.

Daylight Skylights & Uninterrupted Illumination: The sub-surface passes will integrate large architectural skylights designed to channel natural daylight, supplemented by 24-hour smart lighting setups to prevent visibility loss during grid blackouts.

Anti-Waterlogging Drainage: Modern stormwater drainage systems will be engineered to prevent rainwater pooling inside the subways during peak monsoon downpours.

Traffic Coordination with Unnao Police Ahead of Festive Groundbreak

With ground execution timed around the upcoming festive calendar, NHAI administration is coordinating closely with local law enforcement:

Route Diversion Planning: NHAI officials will convene a joint operational meeting with the Unnao district police administration to establish designated diversions, manage heavy vehicles, and ensure seamless passenger transit during the initial excavation phases.

Official Timelines: NHAI Project Director Navratna confirmed that foundational utility relocation is actively moving, with the construction of dedicated service lanes kicking off shortly so that core structural work on the underpasses and pedestrian foot overbridges starts right around Diwali.