Road travellers to Tiruchi and other Central districts from the western part of the State may wonder why the narrow stretch between toll plaza near Thirupparaithurai and Kudamurutti bridge has not witnessed any progress for several years.
Continuous rise in the volume of traffic along the 12.5-km stretch has meant slower movement of vehicles. The stretch, which has a number of sharp curves, is also vulnerable to accidents, drivers of heavy vehicles say.
Motorists point out that the stretch with a width of just seven metres for two-way movement of traffic is an oddity in the backdrop of widened entry points of roads to the city from all other directions linking Thanjavur, Perambalur, Pudukottai, Madurai, and Dindigul.
The State Highways Department is learnt to have conveyed to the government the need to widen the stretch by at least another four metres for construction of paved shoulders.
There is nothing more the State Highways will be able to do along this stretch because of the limited space available between the railway track and the Cauvery river. Although a four-lane road will be ideal, the minimum requirement is 19.2 metres.
The widening of the stretch, sources said, has not taken place for a long time since the timely completion of the semi-ring road formation from Thuvakkudi to Jeeyapuram across the Pudukottai, Madurai and Dindigul roads was expected.
The reasoning of the planners was that the volume of heavy traffic would be diverted through the semi-ring road.
Since the project has sufferred a delay, the widening of the stretch has become inevitable, motorists emphasise.
