Prime Minister Narendra Modi (PM Modi) will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for three major National Highway projects for Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula on July 17. The projects involve a total investment of Rs 52.78 bn and comprise the 31.23 km Zirakpur–Kurali six-lane Greenfield Highway, the 10.30 km Chandigarh Airport–Aerocity Greenfield Highway and the 19.20 km Zirakpur Bypass. The programme is intended to provide dedicated highway links to reduce through traffic within the Tricity. Authorities expect the works to divert vehicles that currently pass through Chandigarh to reach destinations in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, thereby separating local traffic from transit traffic. By reducing mixing of local and through traffic, the projects are expected to shorten travel time for commuters, improve road safety and lower fuel consumption caused by long congestion. Planners also anticipate more efficient freight movement as heavy vehicles will be able to skirt urban stretches. Thousands of commercial vehicles and long-distance travellers presently enter the Tricity owing to missing highway links, creating bottlenecks on arterial roads such as Madhya Marg, Dakshin Marg and the Chandigarh–Zirakpur stretch. The proposed greenfield corridors and bypass are intended to provide a direct alternative so vehicles with no destination in the city can skirt the area. Officials said the new network will strengthen regional connectivity and is expected to boost logistics, tourism, economic activity and investment. The event in Chandigarh will be attended by senior dignitaries including the Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and the chief ministers of Haryana and Punjab, alongside local MPs and MLAs. A senior official from the UT administration described the corridors as a strategic step to decongest entry and exit points and allow the city road network to focus on local mobility. The announcements follow a continuing push to improve regional infrastructure and urban traffic management.