The work on construction of a high-level bridge across the Vaigai in lieu of Kuruvikaran Salai causeway has been completed and is set for inauguration, a Corporation official said here on Saturday.
The bridge with 10 spans is 200 metres long and 17.50 metres wide. There is a 2.25-metre-wide pedestrian pathway on either side of the bridge which has been constructed at a cost of ₹23.17 crore. The causeway outlived its utility and a demolition order was issued in 2019. Work on the new bridge started on May 11, 2020.
Though it was scheduled to have been completed by last November, due to various reasons the work got dragged for two more months, the official said. Once formally thrown open, the bridge would help in free flow of traffic and decongesting roads on either side of the river, the official said.
Ever since the bridge work started, those travelling between Kamarajar Salai and KK Nagar had to take a circuitous route by using the PTR bridge near Teppakulam and go through Anna Nagar. Off and on, two-wheelers and light commercial vehicles used a makeshift causeway behind Aravind Eye Hospital.
A DMK MLA said that as per an earlier plan, Chief Minister M. K. Stalin was to have inaugurated the bridge during his visit to Madurai on January 12, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to have arrived at Virudhunagar for inaugurating the 11 Government Medical Colleges in the State. As these programmes got cancelled due to the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic, the CM may shortly inaugurate the bridge through virtual mode, he said.
