Thiruvananthapuram–Kasaragod Coastal Highway is a 625 km planned coastal highway running parallel to

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, India. It is proposed and being constructed with a width of 14 m and begin from

Pozhiyoor Pozhiyoor is a village in the district of Thiruvananthapuram in the State of Kerala in India. It has gradually grown to a well known tourist destination in India. The major attractions of Poovar tourism area are in Pozhiyoor. Pozhikkara, estuar ...

Thiruvananthapuram district Thiruvananthapuram District () is the List of districts of Kerala, southernmost district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. The district was created in 1949, with its headquarters in the city of Thiruvananth ...

and ends at

Kunjathur Kunjathur is a census town in Kasaragod district in the state of Kerala, India. It is located south of Mangalore. Demographics As of 2011 Census, Kunjathur had a population of 13,633, where 6,729 are males and 6,904 are females. Kunjathur cen ...

Kasaragod district Kasaragod ( (, , ; English: ''Kassergode'') is one of the 14 districts in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Its northern border Thalappady is located just 9 km south to Ullal, which is the southernmost portion of the major port city ...

. The total estimated cost of the project is ₹6,500 crore, which is being borne by

Kerala Government The Government of Kerala (abbreviated as GoK), also known as the Kerala Government, is the administrative body responsible for governing the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. ...

Route description

The coastal highway passes through nine districts in Kerala at a distance of 625 km. Starting from

, it passes through

Kollam Kollam (;), is an ancient seaport and the List of cities and towns in Kerala, fourth largest city in the Indian state of Kerala. Located on the southern tip of the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, the city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake ...

Alappuzha Alappuzha (, आलप्पुळ) or Alleppey is a municipality and town on the Laccadive Sea in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the district headquarters of the district, and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvana ...

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

Malappuram Malappuram (also Malapuram) () is a municipality and town in Kerala and the headquarters of the Malappuram district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Kerala, 4th largest urban agglomeration in Kerala and ...

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

and Kannur districts finally reaching

. The highway runs parallel to the current

National Highway 66 The following highways are numbered 66: International * European route E66 Australia * Barkly Highway (Northern Territory) * Riddoch Highway Canada * Alberta Highway 66 * Highway 66 (Ontario) Cuba * Autopista Sancti Spiritus (4-6 ...

and will have bicycle track and footpath. When the project completes, it will also be the completion of India's longest cycle path. The 652.4 km long cycle path in Thalappadi, Kasaragod to Puvvar in Thiruvananthapuram wil pass through 8 districts. A 2.5 km underwater tunnel connecting

Fort Kochi Fort Kochi ( , ; Cochin Portuguese: ''Cochim de Baixo'', , Tamil: ''Koçhé Kōtàì''), formerly also known as Fort Cochin or British Cochin or Old Kochi, is a region of Kochi city in Kerala, India. Fort Kochi takes its name from the For ...

and

Vypin Vypin (, Cochin Portuguese: Isla Santa) is one of the group of islands that form part of the city of Kochi, in the Indian state of Kerala. Vypin forms a barrier island which lies between the Arabian Sea in the west and the Cochin backwaters ...

in Ernakulam has been also proposed to be constructed as part of the project.

History

Paravur-Varkala Coastal Road at Thekkumbhagam

The project was started by the

Kerala government The Government of Kerala (abbreviated as GoK), also known as the Kerala Government, is the administrative body responsible for governing the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. ...

on the basis of a study conducted in 1993 by the National Transportation Planning and Research Center,

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

. Later, the center recommended measures to reduce traffic congestion on the national highway and increase tourism opportunities. Finally, in 2017, the government approved the alignment prepared by

National Transportation Planning and Research Centre Departments References: **Secretariat department: Policy making and administrative department of the government. Headed by a Secretary to Government. **Directorate/Commissionerate/Agencies: Executive or field, operational department of the ...

(NATPAC). The Coastal Highway project is being implemented in three phases by making the existing national highways and state highways a part of the project and by constructing new ones. The Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) will be constructing the 468 kilometres of highway. The work on 120 km of the remaining 155 km will be covered under the Bharatmala project, which is initiated by the

National Highway Authority of India The National Highways Authority of India or NHAI () is an autonomous agency of the Government of India, set up in 1995 (Act 1988) and is responsible for management of a road network of over 50,000 km of National highways out of 1,32,499 ...

(NHAI) to connect important coastal areas and ports in the country. Work on the remaining 35 kilometres will be done as part of other projects.

References

{{reflist Proposed roads in India Proposed infrastructure in Kerala Transport in Thiruvananthapuram Roads in Kerala

Route description

History

See also

References