Chennai: National Highways Authority of India will soon construct two six-lane elevated corridors connecting Outer Ring Road (ORR) with Maduravoyal and Sriperumbudur to improve connectivity for heavy vehicles and reduce traffic bottlenecks on city’s outskirts.
One corridor, linking ORR with Maduravoyal over 8.1km along Tambaram-Puzhal Chennai Bypass, is estimated to cost 1,476 crore, while the other will link ORR with Sriperumbudur via Chennai-Bengaluru highway over 13.1 km at an estimated 1,808 crore, Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari told Lok Sabha in response to questions from DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran.
Once completed, the corridors will allow trucks to bypass traffic-heavy sections of existing highways and reach ports more efficiently. The ongoing Maduravoyal-Port elevated corridor will further improve freight movement. During festival weekends, these corridors may also be used to divert intercity buses, which currently rely only on Chennai Bypass or ORR.
This work, Gadkari said, will be taken up with other major projects planned for Chennai’s outskirts this year widening of ECR from Mamallapuram to Puducherry, expansion of Chengalpet-Tindivanam section of Chennai-Trichy highway and a new elevated corridor on GST Road. The originally planned corridor on GST Road, meant to link Tambaram with Chengalpet over 27km, has been modified and the new project will be an 18-km Kilambakkam-Mahindra City link at an estimated 2,950 crore.
Residents welcome the plan but have expressed concerns over delay. B Ganesh of Tambaram said GST Road, part of Chennai-Trichy highway, was heavily congested, particularly on weekends. Previously, heavy traffic was limited to Chengalpet, but now extends up to Tindivanam. He urged authorities to prioritise the GST Road project.