The Kanchanpur Kamala highway upgrade on Nepal’s East-West Highway has gained fresh momentum after years of delays, with road works and bridge construction now moving ahead steadily. Minister Sunil Lamsal shared the progress update in a Facebook post on 7 October 2026, noting that traffic is already running on 49 of the 54 bridges built along the corridor.
The section covers 86.63 km of the Mahendra Highway, Nepal’s main east-west arterial route across the Terai. Once complete, the Kanchanpur Kamala highway upgrade will provide 16.49 km of six-lane road and 70.33 km of four-lane road, supported by 54 bridges, 218 culverts, 2 overpasses and 6 underpasses.
Delays that held the project back
Work on the stretch had been slowed by a series of overlapping problems. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted early construction schedules, contractors struggled to mobilize equipment and manpower on time, and relocating electricity and drinking-water lines off the corridor took far longer than planned. Interruptions in fuel and bitumen supply added further setbacks during critical phases.
Against that background, the latest figures on the Kanchanpur Kamala highway upgrade mark a clear turnaround. Contractors have completed 77.19 km of four-lane-equivalent binding course and 66.675 km of wearing course. The superstructures of all 54 bridges are complete, and 49 bridges are now carrying traffic while finishing works continue on the remaining structures.
Why the Kanchanpur Kamala highway upgrade matters
The East-West Highway, formally known as the Mahendra Highway, is Nepal’s principal arterial road. It carries freight and passengers across the entire Terai belt, connects border trade points, and links the towns and cities that depend on reliable road transport for commerce and daily travel. Widening this corridor to four and six lanes cuts travel times, eases congestion and improves safety on one of the busiest freight routes in the country.
For communities along the corridor, a wider and stronger highway means better access to markets, hospitals and schools, and fewer of the long traffic jams that have plagued the old two-lane road during harvest and festival seasons.
New technology: RSS walls on overpasses and underpasses
The project is also introducing reinforced soil (RSS) walls to Nepal, a construction technology being used on the overpass and underpass structures along the corridor. At Rupani and Mirchaiya, the underpass structures have already been built, and installation of the RSS panels is now underway, an important step toward finishing the grade-separated crossings.
What happens next for the Kanchanpur Kamala highway upgrade
With every bridge superstructure finished and most bridges already open to traffic, the remaining work centers on completing the final wearing course and the remaining underpass and overpass structures. The steady pace of paving and panel installation suggests the project has moved past its most difficult phase and is now heading toward full completion of the upgraded corridor.
Source: Minister Sunil Lamsal’s Facebook post, 7 October 2026
Read more: Muglin Pokhara Road West Section to Finish by November | Beni-Jomsom-Korala Road Reopening: 50+ Landslide Spots Cleared