The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Road widening project to be over soon

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Thursday, Sep 25, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Road widening project to be over soon

K. Lakshmi

Photo: K. Pichumani

RESPITE SOON: Motorists have to endure a long wait on the stretch of Poonamallee Road near Maduravoyal. —

CHENNAI: Motorists who endure inching traffic to cross a stretch of Poonamallee High Road between Nerkundram and Maduravoyal may soon have a respite with one portion of the road widening project taken by National Highways Authority of India to be completed in two months.

Residents of Maduravoyal said several goods carriers and vehicles from adjacent residential localities used the National Highway-4 road that connects the city with Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai. Though the project was initiated four years ago, the delay in widening the road led to traffic pile-up owing to bumpy stretches.

The NH-4 road is also extensively used by residents of central and western parts of the city to travel to Poonamallee and other places in Kancheepuram district.

G. Kumar, a resident of Maduravoyal, said the road was the only source of connectivity to areas such as Anna Nagar, Aminjikarai and Ambattur. Motorists have to endure a long wait in the choking traffic, particularly during rush hour.

Several motorists often risk their lives by violating traffic rules to cross the stretch quicker, he said.

B.Varadarajan, president of Maduravoyal Residents Welfare Federation, said that it took more than an hour to cross the 6-km stretch between Maduravoyal and Koyambedu, which is otherwise a 10-minute ride, owing to traffic pile-up. Though the fatal accidents on the road have been reduced because of the initiation of road widening project, residents still have to vie for space with the heavy vehicles that carry goods to the city, including the Koyambedu wholesale market, he said.

An NHAI official said that work was in progress to complete a portion of road widening project from Koyambedu junction to Maduravoyal running up to 4.6 km in two months. The work taken up in 2005 aims at widening the road width to about 100 feet as part of the construction of grade separators project in the city.

Work on the other portion of the road in Maduravoyal would be initiated only after the Chennai Metrowater laid the pipeline transporting water from the Chembarambakkam water treatment plant to the existing network in Koyambedu. The Metrowater’s work would need nearly 14-metre wide space to lay the pipeline, the official said.

A Metrowater official said while the portion of pipeline laying work between Chembarambakkam and Vanagaram has been completed, the work on the 700-metre stretch from Maduravoyal to Koyambedu was waiting for the land acquisition process, which is in the final stage.

Once the NHAI finalised the grade separator alignment at the Koyambedu junction, the pipeline work would be undertaken in the area, the official said.

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