Following the finalisation of the structural design of the bridge connecting Anna Salai and Mahalingapuram, along the contiguous South and North Usman Road stretch, the Chennai Corporation has planned to shelve the proposal to construct pedestrian subways in the area.
The civic body, on Wednesday, finalised the structural design of the flyover along North and South Usman Road that will span a length of 3.5 km.
“The bridge has been designed to withstand earthquakes in seismic zone III. Experts from Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) will proofcheck the design shortly. Administrative sanction for the project is expected after IIT-M clears the design,” said an official.
The civic body had rejected a proposal for acquisition of private land for the redesigned flyover on Usman Road at a public consultation last year. However, a small portion of private land along the road will be required for implementation of the project (for construction of ramps) as per the design.
Without acquisition of private land, the width of the ramps will be reduced to seven metres. At least 3,500 sq. m. of private land will be required for a structurally-safe bridge, said officials.
Various design options proposed during the public consultation involved acquisition of land, ranging in size from 3,654 sq. m. to 4,556 sq. m., on Usman Road. The consultant had provided nine options for easing traffic congestion on the stretch connecting Anna Salai and Mahalingapuram.
The design was shortlisted based on the feasibility study that covered traffic volume count and pedestrian volume count, and a study of origin and destination of vehicles on the stretch.
