Preliminary works to widen the 134-km long Tiruchi-Chidambaram National Highway has begun and the works are expected to begin within a couple of months.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) executes the project at an investment of about ₹1,950 crore. It has recently awarded tenders for widening the highway as a partial four-lane carriageway.
The first 50 km of the highway, from Tiruchi to nearly Keezha Pazhur, would be converted into a four-lane highway with carriage ways of 8.7 metres on both sides. Beyond this point, it will be a two-lane highway with paved shoulders. The two-lane highway would have a width of 10 metres.
The project is being executed in three packages on Tiruchi-Kallagam, Kallagam-Meensuritti and Meensurritti-Chidambaram sections and is scheduled to be completed within two and a half years, sources said.
“Preliminary works including survey and soil investigation are under way. The work will begin in about 45 to 60 days. The process of acquiring the required land is in advanced stage,” sources said.
The four-laning of the first 50 km of the highway is expected to come as a boon to cement units in Ariyalur district. This is the busiest stretch of the highway with a high traffic volume of goods vehicles. Besides, the highway would pass through one of the fertile belt of Lalgudi-Poovalur, which forms part of the canal irrigated delta areas in Tiruchi district.
The highway has been designed with bypass roads at a handful of places including Lalgudi-Poovalur, Keezha Palur, Mela Palur, Jayankondam and Kattumannarkovil, the sources added.
The widening of the highway has been a long pending one. This and the Tiruchi-Salem highway were the two highway sections from Tiruchi which are yet to be widened. Once this project was completed, almost all major highways running from Tiruchi would have been widened as either four-lane or two-lane highways with paved shoulders.
