A view of ongoing earthwork as part of the approach road construction on Morgan’s Gate side on the Jeppinamogaru-Morgan’s Road four-lane road project at Mahakalipadpu in Mangaluru.
| Photo Credit: ANIL KUMAR SASTRY
Even as the city administration has planned to partially close the Kankanady Bypass Road for reconstruction, commissioning of the four-lane Jeppinamogaru-Morgan’s Road, which is supposed to take the south-bound traffic may take another two months.
While officials of Mangaluru Smart City Ltd. (MSCL), which is executing the project, have said they require at least 45 days to open the road for vehicular movement, on-site work progress indicated that the agency might take at least two months to complete the approach roads for the twin Railway under Bridges (RuBs).
The contractor concerned was removing the earth for the approach road formation on Morgan’s Gate-side (near Yenepoya Plywoods) when The Hindu visited the site on Sunday. The work faces twin problems of water seepage from the adjacent Moily Kere and the presence of boulders on the approach road alignment.
He said slushy earth is being removed before filling the void with hard soil. For removing the boulder, he cannot resort to blasting because of the presence of the RuB and Railway lines; but has to use some chemicals. Whenever it rains, the entire rainwater from Mangalore Club Circle flows down towards the RuB and gets accumulated complicating the issue, the contractor said.
He also said had the Southern Railway completed the RuB work a month early (in March-April) and cleared the worksite, he would have completed the approach road before the rains started. Even after completing RuB work, the Railways had left a massive crane that was used to lift girders, on the approach road site thereby further delaying the work, he said.
A view of slush and stagnant water on the construction site of the approach road towards Jeppinamogaru side of the twin RuB at Mahakalipadpu in Mangaluru.
| Photo Credit:
H.S. MANJUNATH
RuB completed in April
The Southern Railway had completed concrete boxes pushing for the twin RuB beneath the Shoranur-Mangaluru Junction and Shoranur-Mangaluru Central lines by April 23. MSCL however did not commence the approach road work immediately while early rains from May second week further added to the delay.
The foundation stone for the ₹50 crore project was laid in March 2021, while vehicular movement, other than two-wheelers, through the existing Mahakalipadpu Level Crossing, was stopped from December 21, 2022. Since then, road users have been facing hardship in commuting between the central and southern parts of the city.
Kankanady Bypass Road not yet made one-way
A view of Kankanady Bypass Road in Mangaluru.
| Photo Credit:
FILE PHOTO
Notwithstanding the October 13 notification by the City Police Commissioner and the Additional District Magistrate to enforce temporary one-way traffic between Karavali Junction and Pumpwell Circle with immediate effect, the Mangaluru City Traffic Police are yet to enforce the rule.
As per the plan, the public works department would concrete the four-lane road, one by one, carriageway each in about seven months. During the period, the road becomes one-way from Karavali Junction to Pumpwell Circle. The incoming traffic from Pumpwell Circle towards the city would use the Kankanady Old Road.
The public had raised concern over the temporary one-way when the Jeppinamogaru-Morgan’s Gate Road remains closed and feared the Kankanady-Pumpwell region could witness chaos.
A senior traffic police officer said a final decision would be taken in a couple of days.
Published – October 19, 2025 07:24 pm IST
