Looks like there may be a solution to the traffic congestion in some challenging spots in south Chennai. If the flyovers being planned in Pallavaram and Velachery materialise, that is. The Highways Department is all set to acquire land for construction of flyovers in the two localities, according to officials.
In Velachery, around 1530 sq mt of land and at Pallavaram around 2,000 sq mt of land would be required for the projects that seek to ease traffic congestion at the junctions. Sources in the Highways Department said the general arrangement drawings and alignments for these facilities costing around Rs.175 crore have been approved. Once its design wing clears the designs submitted by the consultant, the tendering process will begin. It is expected to take a couple of months after that for the work to be awarded to contractors.
The detailed project report for construction of flyovers at the Vijay Nagar junction in Velachery, at the Kolathur junction -- for smooth traffic movement from Red Hills Road --, one on Inner Ring Road at Retteri and another, connecting Market Road and Kundrathur Road in Pallavaram had been submitted by the consultant a few months ago. No acquisition would be required for the one at Kolathur as the facility would come up over the 200 feet road at a cost of Rs. 50 crore.
Of the three locations, the Vijay Nagar junction, the busiest, will have two flyovers. One of them will be a one-way facility with traffic from Velachery Bypass Road to Tambaram. The other flyover – a portion of which would pass above the other facility – would allow two-way traffic from Taramani Link Road to Velachery Bypass Road.
Residents say that unless steps are taken to remove a bottleneck that is located 100 mts from the Vijay Nagar junction on Tambaram Road, the traffic chaos cannot be addressed successfully. “There are two flyovers on the Tambaram Road. The bypass is also quite broad. Despite that, vehicles pile up on this road. A private company has taken up some road space. Unless that is removed no solution will work out,” said M. Marimuthu, a resident.
According to the traffic study made by the consultants, every day a total of 72,800 vehicles ply on the Tambaram Road, 55,900 on the Velachery Bypass 57,300 on the Taramani Link Road and 4,300 on Big Street. Between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. during rush hour on an average 3976 pedestrians walk along the roads and 2,180 across the road at the Vijay Nagar junction.
