The first stage of the multi-level bridge coming up at the Viralimalai Road intersection near the Railway Junction in the city will be completed by the end of 2016, K.C. Parameswaran, Chief Engineer, Highways (Projects), said here on Saturday.
The bridge, built at a cost of Rs. 81.40 crore, is coming up in the place of the existing narrow bridge that has turned a traffic bottleneck in the city. The project is being executed in two stages. In the first stage, a new three-lane road-over-bridge with five arms will be built at a cost of Rs. 44.28 crore adjacent to the existing bridge. In the next stage, the old bridge would be dismantled and a new bridge with two arms built in its place.
Mr. Parameswaran, after an inspection of the progress of the works on the project, said that the Highways had planned to open up the Dindigul Road-Railway Junction section of the bridge by end of December this year. The remaining portion of the first stage of the project would be completed by the end of next year, ahead of its scheduled time of February 2017. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2019. The project had slowed down because of the delay in transfer of land from various agencies The Chief Engineer pointed out that land from various government agencies had to be alienated to the Highways Department for the project. A few cases were pending with respect to acquisition of private land. Steps had been taken to expedite the works.
