During peak traffic, it takes approximately four hours to travel from
Kozhikode to
Palakkad through the present
NH 966 route. However, the proposed 121-kilometer-long highway, which connects national highways 544 and 66, is intended to reduce travel time to two hours. The congestion on NH 966 is also expected to be reduced. The highway would be constructed on four or six-lane, and starts from
Marutharode village in
Palakkad in the
NH 544 to
Pantheeramkavu in
Kozhikode in the
NH 66. In 2018, the
Central Government first designed the alignment of the project. It is expected to cost ₹8,000 crore. Of this, Rs 4,000 crore is for construction and the remaining 4000 crores is for acquiring 547 hectares of land with a width of 45 meters including the service road. The project will have a little impact on forests and human settlements, according to a pre-feasibility report for environmental impact assessment. There is no tunnel or forest along the alignment. The highway will accommodate traffic between Kozhikode and the
Calicut airport in
Kondotty,
Malappuram and is expected to enable high-speed access to the ports of Kozhikode and
Chennai. It is also expected to increase connectivity to the 39 villages along the alignment and to tourist sites such as
Wayanad,
Mysuru,
Silent Valley,
Nilambur and
Ooty. ==See also==