Land acquisition for widening of phase II of Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) is nearing completion.
Sources in the highways department said, of the 13 revenue villages the road runs through, possession of land has been done in four villages. “We will take possession of required land in four more villages shortly. Land acquisition is in its final stages in other villages and will be completed in three months,” said a source.
Around 200 acres are required for widening the stretch from Siruseri to Poonjeri on East Coast Road. Apart from facilitating development along the road and around the villages it connects, the widening will offer better connectivity to ECR.
The government had sanctioned Rs. 260 crore towards the cost of land acquisition. The widening is likely to take around two years.
Residents, however, are sceptic about the proposal. A. Anandan, a resident of Navalur, said Rajiv Gandhi Salai (Phase I of OMR) has too many bottlenecks and traffic snarls too are common. “Though they have been collecting toll for over five years, they haven’t completed work on that stretch as yet,” he said.
An urban planner said though the widening would help in localised development and allow increased speeds on the stretch, the road would remain clogged until integrated widening of several interconnected roads, including Sardar Patel Road and L.B. Road, and improvement of Madhya Kailash and Thiruvanmiyur junctions takes place.
