The Comba road over bridge (ROB) in Margao has received technical approval from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, clearing a key stage for a project intended to ease congestion at one of Goa’s busiest railway crossings. Financial approval is still awaited for the bridge, which is estimated to cost more than Rs 100 crore.
PWD minister Digambar Kamat said the four-legged ROB would be built along the Margao ring road at Comba and connect Margao city with the Western Bypass. The bridge is planned to carry traffic over the railway crossing and divert vehicles towards Khareband and the Damodar College complex.
A PWD survey found that approximately 17,000 vehicles cross the Comba level crossing every day. The crossing gate is frequently closed for train movements, while the existing alternative subway floods during the monsoon. Kamat said the subway’s design also forces vehicles to negotiate a sharp U-turn in a restricted area, limiting its effectiveness as a traffic diversion.
The approval follows efforts to secure the project under the Union government’s Setu Bandhan scheme. According to the Times of India report, the project had been awaiting approval after Kamat raised the matter with Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari in Delhi in July 2024.
The bridge is linked to a wider plan for improving movement through Margao. The proposed 0.9-km ring road flyover and a missing link on the ring road are expected to support the Comba connection. However, the ring road flyover has not yet been tendered, despite receiving the Centre’s sanction two years ago.
The earlier delay was associated with the requirement for a railway no-objection certificate. Both South Western Railway and Konkan Railway have since given their approval for the project, according to Kamat. The next immediate milestone for the Comba ROB is therefore financial approval, followed by the procurement and construction process.
The Centre has also sanctioned Rs 22 crore for a service road connecting Vidya Vikas Academy in Comba to the Western Bypass. The work includes improvements at Khareband junction and road safety measures. Kamat said work on this package would commence shortly.
A separate Rs 47.5 crore has been sanctioned for a one-time improvement of the Nuvem-Navelim stretch, which is scheduled to be denotified as National Highway 66. The proposed works include milling Abade Faria Road, or removing its upper bitumen layer, followed by hotmixing. The intervention follows complaints from residents that the raised road surface after previous hotmixing was allowing rainwater to enter their homes.
Together, the three sanctioned works represent a combined public infrastructure allocation of at least Rs 69.5 crore, excluding the cost of the Comba ROB, whose financial approval remains pending. The projects cover a railway crossing, a junction and service-road network, and a highway section affected by drainage and road-level problems.
The PWD has not announced a construction timeline for the ROB in the information available. The service road and Khareband junction work is expected to begin shortly, while the bridge will require financial clearance and subsequent tendering before construction can start.
