National Highway 9 (NH 9)

National Highway 9 (NH 9) is a major National Highway in central India passing through the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Its eastern terminal is in Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh and its western terminal is in Pune with a total length of 841 km (523 mi).

Major cities and towns on NH 9 are Pune, Indapur, Solapur, Umarga, Zahirabad, Hyderabad, Choutuppal, Narketpally, Suryapet, Kodad, Nandigama, Vijayawada, Vuyyuru and Machilipatnam.The stretch from Zahirabad to Solapur is in a poor condition and it is going to be widen from Sangareddy to Zaheerabad this year. The stretches from Vijayawada to Hyderabad, Hyderabad to Sangareddi crossroads, and from Daund to Pune are well maintained.

The present road conditions from Daund to the state border of Maharashtra/Karnataka border has not been upgraded / maintained as the roads in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The road is not suitable for the large number of heavy trucks traveling between Pune and Vijayawada.

The NH-9, which begins at Pune in Maharashtra, extends over 841 km (523 mi) with 336 km (209 mi) in Maharashtra, 75 km (47 mi) in Karnataka and 430 km (270 mi) in Andhra Pradesh and ends at Machilipatnam. From Pune a 40 km (25 mi) stretch has been developed into a good quality 4 lane highway, a similar development has taken place 40 km (25 mi)before and after Hyderabad and 50 km (31 mi) before Vijayawada had been developed into 4 lane. However, waiting is for the development of the remaining 700 km (430 mi).

NH 9 in Andra Pradesh

The long-awaited four/six-laning of Hyderabad-Vijayawada section of NH 9 has started following the laying of foundation stone on 21 March 2010.[2] Once four/six-laning work is completed, it would fulfill long cherished dream of people of the Eastern parts of Andhra Pradesh to have faster access to the Hyderabad. It would help a lot in reducing the travel time between Hyderabad and Vijayawada.

Once the implementation of the project is complete, there would be substantial decrease in vehicle operating costs like reduced travel time between Hyderabad and Vijayawada from four to three hours for private car users and from six to four hours for public transport users considering the stop at Suryapet and Kodada and other towns to pick up passengers. There are six bypasses through Narketpally, Nakrekal, Kodad, Akupamula, Sher Mohammed Peta and Navabpet.

The expansion project from Hyderabad to Vijayawada on NH-9 was taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 1,170 crore on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. The project also envisages augmenting the four-lane facility to six-lane standards before 14th year. This project which was sanctioned in November 2007 was delayed[3] which created legal problems in addition to technical reasons besides land acquisition delays.Work on Hyderabad-Vijayawada section to be completed by Oct. 2012.