The Highways Department has finally started laying a new road inside the Tamil Nadu Special Police Battalion campus at the Viralimalai Road intersection where a new bridge is under construction.
The new road formation from Mannarapuram Road towards Crawford Road forms a crucial component of the construction of the new multi-level bridge at Viralimalai Road intersection near the Railway Junction in the city.
Although construction of the bridge was under way in full swing on Aristo Hotel and Dindigul Highway sides, the work on Madurai Road and along Mannarpuram Road was delayed as the land from the Tamil Nadu Special Police Battalion campus had to be transferred to the Highways Department.
The alienation of about 18,500 square metres of land held by the Tamil Nadu Special Police Battalion was crucial for executing the project right from the beginning. A new road formation is to be created only after the alienation of this land.
Recently, the Home Secretary and the Director-General of Police had issued no-objection certificates paving the way for the commencement of the work at Tamil Nadu Special Police Battalion land. Enter upon permission was issued to the Highways Department a few days back and the work has started.
The road would initially serve as a diversion road. On completion of the bridge work, it would be a four-lane road with seven metre carriage ways on both sides. Centre medians would be built on the road. Sources indicated that efforts were on to get about 0.6 acres of Defence lands for the project.
However, this would not impede the formation of the new road along the TSP Battalion land.
The first of the two stage project is expected to be completed in three years. In the first stage, a new three-lane road over-bridge with five arms will be built at a cost of Rs. 44.28 crore adjacent to the existing bridge. In the next stage, the old bridge would be dismantled and a new bridge with two arms built in its place. It will take another two years for completion.
