The service road constructed along the sides of the railway tracks of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) between Velachery and Taramani railway stations is set to be completed only by the end of this year.
The road project, which is being executed by the Southern Railway, has been mired in delays for several years. The road work, which should have been completed by April this year, has been delayed further.
The 3.40-km stretch has been black-topped but kept closed because of non-completion of the culvert linking the stormwater drain network to the Pallikaranai marsh.
Key stretch
The service road is important for motorists and residents bound for the IT Corridor and Adyar, as it would ease the congestion at the Vijay Nagar junction in Velachery, which is clogged with traffic due to bridge work.
S. Gowri Shankar, a resident of Madipakkam, said the speedy completion of the service road would help residents from the southern suburbs of Madipakkam, Nanganallur and Pallikaranai avoid traffic jams at Vijay Nagar. He rued that the delay in the construction of the culvert, where no work is in progress, made the motorists to take a detour via the crowded Vijay Nagar junction.
Motorists pointed out that when the service road is fully operational, the Chennai Corporation needs to install streetlights.
The residents also want the relocation of a Tasmac liquor shop located at the Balakrishna Nagar-MRTS service road junction.
