Twin key infrastructure projects in the northern neighbourhood will see the light of day as the Rs. 19.2-crore grade separator at Mint Junction and the Rs 15.75-crore vehicular subway on Monegar Choultry (M.C.) Road in Old Washermenpet are ready for use.
On Tuesday, for the first time, vehicles including Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses were allowed beneath the new grade separator on a pilot basis.
Chennai Corporation officials were observing traffic patterns, and will finalise a regular route for motorists using the grade separator once the facility is formally opened.
“Finishing touches are being given to the twin projects. We will request the Chief Minister to inaugurate them,” said Mayor, Saidai Duraisamy.
Sanctioned in July 2009, the four-lane grade separator is 550 metres long and 15 metres wide and will connect Old Jail Road and Basin Bridge Road at Mint junction in Old Washermanpet. The junction connects important areas including Royapuram, Kodungaiyur, Pulianthope, and Washermenpet.
Funded by its own resources, the Corporation entrusted the design, engineering, procurement of materials and construction model of the four-lane flyover to Hyderabad based infrastructure development firm, IVRCL.
A large number of residents around Mint and Basin Bridge Road will benefit from the project.
“The grade separator will help container lorries from the Kolkota Highway, a national highway, reach Chennai Port faster, as they can avoid the congested Ponnamallee High Road,” said Abdul Halem, a resident of Old Washermenpet.
At present, service lanes on both sides of the grade separator are being laid. Each bitumen-topped service lane is around 600 metres long and six metres wide (enough for a bus and a car together).
Street lights on the grade separator have also been installed. A final coat of paint is being given to the structure.
The M.C. subway is also ready for inauguration, even as it waits for pumping equipment to discharge excess rain water. The 2.6 km-long vehicular subway will connect Old Jail Road and Gollavar Agraharam Road in Old Washermenpet. More importantly, it will be lifeline for hundreds of patients to get to Government Stanley Hospital safely.
Begun in April 2008, work on the 359-metre-long subway was jointly built by the Corporation and Southern Railway.
