The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Elevated corridor work under progress

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 14, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Elevated corridor work under progress

K. Lakshmi

A component of NHAI’s Chennai bypass project in Ambattur

— Photo: K. Pichumani

APACE: Work is on to construct the elevated corridor as part of the NHAI’s Chennai bypass project on First Main Road in Ambattur Industrial Estate.

CHENNAI: The three-km stretch of the elevated corridor, a component of the National Highways Authority of India’s Chennai bypass project, in Ambattur is taking shape, overcoming impediments including inundation during monsoon.

Work has been accelerated on the stretch in Ambattur Industrial Estate where about 200 out of the total 276 planned piers have been constructed in the area. The elevated corridor, estimated to cost Rs.100 crore, is the major component of the bypass project that covers a total distance of 32 km, according to sources in the Highways Department.

The project on the stretch along Ambattur that was slated to be completed this month was delayed for various reasons, including flooding in Ambattur caused by surplus water from nearby lakes and problems with contractors, sources said.

While the stretch from Tambaram to Maduravoyal is covered under the first phase, the stretch between Maduravoyal and Madhavaram falls under the second phase of the Rs.405 crore project. It envisages providing a direct route for vehicles going to Kolkata without entering the city limits.

About 50 per cent of the entire project (connecting NH 45 along Tambaram with NH 5 along Madhavaram) has been completed so far.

Second phase

The second phase of the project linking the 13 km stretch between Maduravoyal and Madhavaram was conceived to create a bypass for vehicles that now have to ply through the city roads to reach NH 5. The completion of work in the stretch would mean a decrease in heavy vehicular traffic in strategic points, including Padi intersection on Inner Ring Road and Chennai Tiruvallur High Road, sources added. Motorists passing the Ambattur-Red Hills Road, of late, are spectators of a new development. Works are on progress to construct two underpasses near Kathirvedu and Menambedu on the road as part of the four-lane bypass project. Five underpasses proposed under the second phase have already been completed. Construction of the pass near the Pattaravakkam railway station is also underway. The project’s second phase is likely to be completed by September 2008, sources said.

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