The Chennai Corporation will complete construction of one arm of the Rs.23.75 crore Rangarajapuram flyover by mid-August. All that remains is work on the connecting span. The Southern Railway has just completed its portion of work at a cost of Rs.8 crore. Meanwhile, residents who are reeling under traffic problems in the area are eager that it be completed quickly
One arm of the ‘Y’ shaped flyover leading to the Kodambakkam side was thrown open to the public in September last year by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. “We have to connect the railway portion with our side. We were waiting for tests to be conducted on the bearings to be completed. Now we can recommence work shortly,” said Corporation Commissioner D. Karthikeyan.
Senior Corporation officials said that work above the tracks had taken some time. “It is difficult to work above the tracks when the trains run below. We will take steps to complete the flyover as soon as possible,” they said.
Residents of Rangarajapuram and West Mambalam say traffic in the area could be smoothened only when the flyover is completed. Station View Road, on which one arm of the flyover lands from the North Usman Road side, has two-way traffic and when vehicles are parked on the sides, residents say they are unable to even cross the road during peak hours.
R. Sridharan, a resident of Station View Road, said, “ours is a residential area and during peak hours traffic is unimaginable. Hundreds of students of Meenakshi College and other nearby schools use this road. However, there is no footpath here. Hence they are forced to battle with vehicles for space. We also need a traffic signal at the junction Station View Road and Liberty Theatre Road.”
Jayashree Sethuraman, a resident of Rangarajapuram said that buses belonging to IT companies were parked on Liberty Theatre Road during the night thereby leading to congestion on various roads. There are several marriage halls in the area and when weddings happen, the roads are lined with cars,” she said.
