Several road overbridge projects that are under construction to replace railway crossings in and around the city are expected to be completed this year.
There are at least 11 works in progress being jointly constructed by the Southern Railway and highways department and these are over suburban railway lines.
In the north, the Rs. 88.65 crore 1,720 metre-long Vyasarpadi ROB is expected to be completed by September end. The railways has just commenced its portion of the work. According to sources in the highways, the delay was initially due to land acquisition. But now the shifting of a one-km long sewer line has proved a stumbling block.
“About 320 mts of the pipeline has been shifted. The remaining would be shifted by us,” said a source in the highways department.
In Tiruvottiyur, since an ROB is to come up at level crossing 3 (Maattu mandhai), the railways has sought permission to close the gate and divert traffic to level crossing 4 at Wimco Nagar. The railways will soon call for tenders for LC3. Meanwhile, contractors do not seem to be interested in bidding for the highways portion of the work at Maattu Mandhai. The fifth call for the tender was made recently.
On Tuesday, officials from the two agencies met to discuss 36 projects across the State. “Both sides agreed to speed up works and complete them at the earliest so that the public is not put to undue trouble. It is just not our two agencies that are involved in these works but other government departments including Chennai Metrowater and TANGEDCO and telecom companies” said a source in the highways.
In the west, the ROB work at Patravakkam on the Tiruvallur line is expected to be completed by September end.
In the south, work on LC37 at Oorapakkam/ Kilambakkam is expected to be completed by March end and for the other one at LC36, the deadline has been set for end August. Similarly, for the Rs. 29 crore Guduvanchery (LC40) ROB, where the railways has just commenced pile foundation work near the tracks and the highways has about 12 more deck slabs to construct, the deadline set is August end.
For the two railway gates situated on either side of the Perungalathur station, the alignment and estimates are ready. But the works are awaiting clearance from the National Highways Authority of India.
