The Hindu : Front Page : Work on elevated road along the coast will begin shortly

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Sunday, Jan 25, 2009
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Work on elevated road along the coast will begin shortly

A. Srivathsan

4.7-km first phase to link Light House, Besant Nagar at a cost of Rs. 430 cr.

Chennai: The first phase of an elevated road connecting Light House and East Coast Road (ECR) is set to start with the submission of final feasibility report by Wilbur Smith Associates, consultants to the project.

The final alignment of the 9.7-km elevated road via Besant Nagar was approved in 2008.

The 4.7-km linking Light House and Besant Nagar will constitute the first phase and cost Rs.430 crore.

The report states that the proposed road will improve connectivity to ECR from the city centre and provide easy traffic mobility. The entire road will be elevated with a vertical clearance of 5.5metres.

It will begin from Kamaraj Salai near the Gandhi Statue, turn east before the Light House building and run along the existing Santhome Road up to Srinivaspuram.

It will cross the Adyar Estuary to the west of the existing broken bridge, run through the eastern side of the Theosophical Society campus, reach Urur Kuppam and join Besant Nagar 5th Avenue Road near Elliots Beach.

In the second phase, the elevated road will be extended over Besant Nagar Beach Road. It will turn east near the Velankanni Church to join the beach and run parallel to the coast up to Kottivakkam Kuppam before joining ECR.

The feasibility report states that the first phase of the proposed road project will affect 529 houses, 14 commercial buildings and 3 religious buildings.

It will also impact the environmentally sensitive Adyar estuary, which has been demarcated as a bird sanctuary by the State Forest Department, and Olive Turtle breeding grounds along the corridor. The report states that fishermen’s villages will be affected temporarily.

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