Construction of the ₹54-crore flyover at the Porur junction on Mount Poonamallee Road is nearing completion. The obligatory span, which is the most crucial in a flyover over the junction of the road with Arcot Road, is ready and traffic passes beneath it.
Sources in the Highways Department said of the 13-deck slabs, work on the last three and the approaches are to be taken up soon. “We have programmed it in such a way that the facility can be put to use in a few weeks time. The contractor has split his men into two groups and they work on laying the road and constructing the bridge simultaneously,” explained a source.
However, the lack of permission for traffic diversion has been a major problem as work can be taken up only during the night on the busy road. The police have permitted closure of traffic only between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m., which gives the workers hardly enough time to mobilise the heavy machinery, especially when cement concrete is poured. “Even if the time is extended by two hours, it would help us. As it is, the project had been held up for shifting of huge water mains. We are now working against time,” said a source.
Completion of the flyover is crucial as motorists use it to reach the Chennai-Bengaluru highway and the Chennai bypass to Redhills and beyond.
“There have been times, especially on ‘muhurtham’ days, when motorists have got stuck at the junction for over an hour even. But now things have improved and there is progress. We are waiting for the facility to be completed,” said C. Rangan, who commutes to Porur and beyond regularly.
Work on the 475-metre-long and 17.2-metre-wide flyover, which began in 2010, had temporarily ceased when contractors did not come forward to shift the underground water mains and it resumed in 2015.
