page_title: National Highway 66 (India)
section_title: Road condition
hierarchical_section_title: National Highway 66 (India) / Road condition
caption_attribution_description: English: Kollam Bypass is ending at Mevaram in the south
context_page_description: National Highway 66, commonly referred to as NH 66, is a busy National Highway that runs roughly north–south along the western coast of India, parallel to the Western Ghats. It connects Panvel to Cape Comorin, passing through the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
  The highway is undergoing a major overhaul in Karnataka, where the state government has accepted the NHAI's request of international standard, 60-metre-wide national highway with grade separators. The complete stretch from the Goa border to the Kerala border is being widened to four lanes, with space to accommodate future expansion to six lanes. There were protests from the people, who will lose lands, for a narrower stretch. But the Karnataka government has not heeded to the protests. The stretch from Kazhakootum to Eanchakal and Karamana to Kaliyikkavila in Thiruvananthapuram city is upgraded to 4 lanes and 6 lanes respectively.
  Land acquisition and tendering process for national highway widening is happening at brisk pace in Kerala. New bypass works have already been kick-started.
context_section_description: The NHAI has received the approval to upgrade the complete stretch of highway, from start to end, to a four-lane highway, which will be 60 metres and grade separated. Out of four states through which the highway goes, Karnataka and Maharashtra have received approval from the centre for the 60 metre wide highway. Kerala and Goa have requested a narrower width of 45 metres, and there are protests against the highway being widening in these states. NHAI feels the Kerala state government was lethargic in acquiring land. The four-laning of NH-66 (Mumbai-Kanyakumari) has been completed until Thalapadi in the Karnataka-Kerala border and only its stretch in Kerala is pending. In the beginning of 2017, Kerala government has announced the six laning of NH 66 in the state as a major agenda and said to be completed in three years. But the high value of land will make it hard for compensation, and the ruling party's influence is controversial in relation to similar acquisitions like GAIL pipeline. Now the process is going fast in spite of protests from various highway action forum groups, especially because it connects Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi and of tourism importance. NH 66 has one of the highest vehicle densities in the state compared to sections of the highway in other states, so its development is vital for the overall development of the state, also the HAM model to be followed in widening will be instrumental in collecting the funds for the development. NHAI has been infamous for their heavy and long tenure of toll collection in the state.
  Tunnels will be constructed in the stretches where the road goes through the forest or ghat section. As the forest department does not allow land acquisition for road widening purposes, tunnels which can accommodate four-lane expressways are proposed for such stretches of the road in NH-66. One such proposal is the Maharashtra government's proposal of 1.4 kilometre tunnel at the Karnala bird sanctuary.
  Currently, the road is comparatively narrow and without dividers for the most part. The lack of dividers has led to an increased incidence of head-on collisions between vehicles. At some places, signboards indicating left or right turns, speed-breakers, etc. are either damaged or missing. In addition to its narrow span, there are no guard railings along the sides of the highway. The sides of the road are at times at a lower level than the road. Due to heavy human settlement around the highway and narrow span, the average speed on this highway is far lesser than what can be attained on comparatively better highways such as NH3, NH4 or NH8. One can find carcasses of animals on the road, indicating the risk of inattentive animals coming into the road. Two-wheel vehicles must take a special note of this. The road surface is uneven at certain stretches, not just in rainy seasons, but even at other times.
  At certain places in Karnataka, the surface is so badly damaged that the iron rods underneath are exposed. Presently, the work on widening this highway has been undertaken at certain stretches. Due to narrow span and lack of dividers, there are no separate lanes for oncoming traffic, driving and passing (over-taking). As a result, over-taking is quite rampant. At times, motorists attempt over-taking even on curves where the oncoming traffic cannot be seen. Other motorists are advised to be on the lookout for such oncoming vehicles.
  On 19 March 2013 a bus carrying over 50 persons fell off a bridge close to a river in the Khed area of Ratnagiri district. 37 people were killed in the incident.
  The highway in the state of Karnataka is being upgraded to a 60-metre-wide grade separated highway, in which vehicles can travel at a speed of 100 km per hour. It is a major overhaul, in which certain bridges are being constructed as six-lane bridges for the smooth movement of traffic. The widening work is going on in the complete stretch from the Goa border to the Kerala border. The stretch between Suratkal (NITK) to Kankanady cross (Mahavir Circle) has been already converted to four lanes. T
caption: Kollam Bypass (part of NH 66) at Mevaram, Kollam city
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