Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a 45-minute event at Punjab Engineering College (PEC) in Chandigarh on July 17 during which he will inaugurate and lay foundation stones of road, health and civic infrastructure projects worth over Rs 6,600 crore — the single largest package of project launches the Tricity has seen in recent years.According to information exclusively accessed by The Tribune, Modi will reach the Punjab Engineering College (PEC), Sector 12, at 1.45 pm and depart at 2.35 pm. He will fly in by an MI-17 helicopter from Jind and leave for Jalandhar by the same chopper, with landing and take-off from the Rajindra Park helipad.The PM will be accompanied by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, Haryana Governor Prof Ashim Kumar Ghosh, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini.The centrepiece of the event is three NHAI road infrastructure projects under the Tricity Ring Road network, cumulatively valued at Rs 5,278 crore. These will be followed by the inauguration and foundation-stone laying of projects worth Rs 1,200 crore at the PGI and a set of UT Administration housing and infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore, taking the combined value of all projects being rolled out at the event to over Rs 6,600 crore.The three NHAI projects Modi will launch are the final pieces of the Tricity Ring Road —the 244-km, Rs 12,000-crore orbital network being built around Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula to divert non-local and inter-state traffic away from the urban core.The first is the 31.23-km, six-lane IT City-Kurali Greenfield Corridor, built at a cost of Rs 1,936 crore. Already open to traffic, the corridor bypasses the congested stretches of Mohali, Kharar and Kurali, taking heavy vehicles and long-haul freight off Mohali’s overburdened Airport Road. NHAI officials said the stretch cuts the travel time on the Mohali-Kharar-Kurali route by about 45 minutes and directly strengthens connectivity between Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.The second project is the 19.2-km, six-lane Zirakpur-Panchkula Bypass, for which the Letter of Award has been issued at a cost of Rs 1,878 crore. The bypass aims to offer relief from one of the worst bottlenecks in the region — the Zirakpur-Panchkula corridor — cutting the travel time on the stretch from nearly 35 minutes to 17 minutes. It offers direct, grade-separated access to Himachal Pradesh, relieving local roads in Zirakpur and Panchkula of From page 1through-traffic they were never designed to carry.The third is the 10.3-km PR-07 Spur from the Ambala-Chandigarh Greenfield NH-205A — the connecting link that routes long-distance traffic directly from the expressway onto the Zirakpur Bypass, bypassing Zirakpur, Dera Bassi and Panchkula entirely. Built at the cost of Rs 1,464 crore, its Letter of Award has also been issued. NHAI officials describe it as the last structural link required to enable seamless, high-capacity circumnavigation of the entire Tricity urban core.Preparations on groundDeputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav on Tuesday evening chaired a coordination meeting with Mohali Deputy Commissioner Komal Mittal, Panchkula Deputy Commissioner Satpal Sharma, Mohali SSP Harman Deep Singh Hans and Panchkula DCP Aditi Singh to finalise security, traffic and logistics plans. During the day, UT Administration officials held a series of internal meetings to chalk out the event after receiving formal confirmation from the Prime Minister’s Office.The UT Administration has made tentage and seating arrangements at PEC for 7,700 persons at an estimated cost of Rs 2 crore.Second visit in 18 monthsModi last visited Chandigarh on December 3, 2024, for an event marking Chandigarh’s adoption of India’s three new criminal laws. Union Home Minister Amit Shah was also present.