The State Highways Department is likely to start construction works for an elevated road on Avinashi road in maximum three months.
The flyover project is one of the much-awaited infrastructure needs of the city and the State Budget has allocated ₹200 crore for the ₹1,620 crore work.
According to sources in know of the project, the 10.1 km, four-lane flyover will start at Uppilipalayam and end near KMCH. It will have eight ramps, four up and four down near Anna Statue, PSG College, Hopes College, and Nava India and five pedestrian subways. The project, which is expected to be completed in three years, will involve acquiring 20,000 sq.mt (2.15 lakh sq.ft). The main carriageway will be 17.25 metres wide and though the land acquisition is minimum, it might affect a few buildings along the proposed stretch.
On the cost front, ₹300 crore will be the amount for land acquisition and ₹700 crore for the main bridge. Another ₹500 crore will be to reconstruct or widen some of the existing bridges on Avinashi Road, construction of service roads and improvement of junctions.
The sources said the administrative sanction is expected in a week or so and the technical sanction in two weeks. The bids are likely to be invited in a month.
Efforts are on to ensure that traffic movement on the existing Avinashi Road is not affected even when the project is executed, the sources added.
K. Kathirmathiyon, secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause, said the road should be extended beyond Chinniyampalayam, with a ramp at Chinniyampalayam. The population and infrastructure needs of the city are on the rise and the project is one of the long-pending demands of Coimbatore. This is the first time that the city is seeing a project of such magnitude and hence, it should take into consideration the future needs too. Thanking the Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani for his continuous follow-up and ensuring the city gets the flyover, he said the suitable land acquisition compensation should be settled at the earliest so that the execution does not get delayed.
