It is rain-battered roads in many parts of the city, making driving almost impossible for two and four wheelers. But some roads are worse than the rest. One such is the 12-km National Highways stretch from Madukkarai to Walayar. The road is an important one used in large numbers by heavy vehicles for transport of goods and four-wheelers that come to Coimbatore from Kerala or those going from here to Kerala. Though the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) started works a year ago to convert it into a four-lane road, there had not been much progress on the stretch. The road is in a very bad shape. An official of the NHAI told The Hindu on Wednesday that patch works on the road from Madukkarai to Walayar started 10 days ago. However, it could not progress much because of the rains. The works would resume on Thursday and, if there were no rain, it would be completed in three days.
The road widening work for the entire 54-km stretch from Chengapalli to Walayar was awarded to one contractor on build, operate and transfer mode. The Rs. 852-crore project included widening to six lane road for 42 km and four lane road for 12 km. The widening works could not progress much for the last four months because of several reasons. The patch work from Madukkarai to Walayar was a temporary measure to ensure smooth drive during the rainy season. The six-lane works were expected to be completed by next March and the four-lane works six months after that, the official said.
