THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - State Public Works Minister Mons Joseph Wednesday said a feasibility study would be conducted shortly for a highway that will connect the northern-most part of the state to its southern tip.

A central agency will be engaged to conduct the feasibility study, Joseph told reporters after presenting the state’s first-ever Road Development Policy report to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan.

Earlier, the state had a plan to build an expressway connecting the southern and northern tips of the state, which was shelved after an expert committee found that the project was not feasible.

The Rs.10,000-crore expressway project was first mooted by the Left Front government led by E.K. Nayanar in 1996-2001. It was shelved by the succeeding Congress government, then headed by India’s current defence minister A.K. Antony.

“The project had then envisaged a road width of 100 metres, which for Kerala, where land is a scarce commodity, was an unsound proposal. In the new proposal, we have decided that the width should not exceed 60 metres,” said Joseph.

The expressway will have four lanes where toll will be charged, and a two-lane service road that will be toll-free.

The feasibility study will be completed in six months, following which an all-party meeting will be convened to seek political consensus on the project.

The 600-km highway will be a private-public initiative.