The State Highways Department is all set to widen the narrow and highly accident-prone road stretch between the city and Thindukarai on the Tiruchi-Karur highway.
In what would come as a big relief for residents of the suburbs along the highway, the State government has sanctioned ₹55 crore for widening the road stretch under the Comprehensive Road Infrastructure Development Programme (CRIDP), sources in the Highways Department told The Hindu on Saturday.
“This is one of the major works sanctioned under CRIDP for the current year in the district. The district has been sanctioned a total of ₹185 crore for this and various other works under the programme,” an officer of the department said.
“The road would be widened from its current width of seven metres to 10.5 metres. Some of the dangerous curves will also be straightened to ensure safety,” the officer said. The work is expected to commence by November and would be completed within a year.
Public resentment has been growing over the delay in widening the highway section as accidents were becoming frequent.
The Tiruchi-Karur higway was widened by the National Highways Authority of India beyond Thindukarai near Mukkombu on the outskirts of the city a few years back and the stretch between Thindukarai and Tiruchi was left with the State Highways Department for maintenance.
Ever since, there has been a clamour from the public to widen the 11-km stretch, which runs between the Cauvery river and the Tiruchi-Karur railway line and has several sharp and dangerous curves.
A proposal for widening and strengthening the road has been pending with the government for more than a year.
The Highways department had proposed to widen the road stretch and construct a new bridge across the Kudamuritti river at the entrance of the city.
Significantly, the proposal was revised after Chief Minister Edappadi K.Palaniswami visited Mukkombu last year to inspect the damage to the regulator across the Kollidam when he had apparently instructed the department to widen the road and execute the plan expeditiously.
Sources indicated that construction of the bridge across Kudamuritti river has not been included under the CRIDP and it would be taken up separately.
The Rural Roads wing of the Highways Department would pursue the proposal on the construction of the bridge and seek financial assistance from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. The existing narrow bridge, built in 1924, has grown weak and the new bridge is likely to be sanctioned soon, the sourced added.
Other works
Prominent among the other works sanctioned under CRIDP in the district this year include widening of a 11-km stretch on the Ilankakurichi-Sukkampatti road at cost of ₹12.5 crore; strengthening of a five-km long road stretch between Valavanthi and Jambunathapuram at a cost of ₹3 crore;widening of the 1.6 km long Viduthalaipuram-Peruvalappur road at a cost of ₹3.5 crore; strengthening of a 5.4 km stretch between Peruvalappur and Nambukurichi at a cost of ₹3.5 crore; strengthening of a five km long stretch from Reddimangudi to Thanchankurichi at a cost of ₹3.2 crore; and strengthening of road stretches for a distance of about 20 km on Pachamalai, including the Budakal Road, Manalodai-Nagur Road and the Top Sengattupatti Road, at a cost of ₹6.5 crore.
This apart, ₹10 crore has been sanctioned for non-plan schemes, the sources added.
Manachanallur by-pass
The government has also sanctioned ₹25 crore for building a new bypass road around Manachanallur to ease traffic congestion in the town on the outskirts of the city.
The bypass road would run for a length of about 2.62 km on Tiruchi-Thuraiyur Road averting the need for motorists to go via the town. It would begin near the Panguni Vaical (beyond Nochiyam) and join Thuraiyur Road beyond the Manachanallur Taluk Office. The project is expected to be completed in a year from the date of commencement of work.
