The Highways department has decided to widen the Tiruchi-Thindukarai section of the Tiruchi-Karur highway, revising its earlier plan of strengthening the narrow two-lane road.
A proposal has been forwarded to the government for widening and strengthening the Tiruchi-Karur National Highway between the Kudamuritti River near the city and Thindukarai at an estimated cost of ₹ 73 crore, sources in the Department told The Hindu .
While the road would be widened at a cost of ₹58 crore, a new bridge would be built across the Kudamuritti River at a cost of ₹15 crore, the sources said.
“As, the narrow bridge has emerged as a traffic bottleneck at the entrance of the city. We have decided to widen the nearly 12-km long road stretch from the present width of seven metres to 10.5 metres. There will be no land acquisition involved as there is space for widening the road. The proposal has been forwarded to the government and administrative approval is expected soon,” an officer in the department said.
While the Tiruchi-Karur has been widened by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) beyond Thindukarai near Mukkombu on the outskirts of the city, the road stretch between Thindukarai and Tiruchi has remained a narrow and accident prone road. Since a by-pass was to be laid between Panchapur on Tiruchi-Madurai highway and the Tiruchi-Karur highway by the NHAI, the remaining stretch of the road was left with the State Highways department.
The stretch has been in a neglected condition and residents of villages in Andhanallur block have resorted to repeated agitations demanding the widening of the road. The road running along the banks of the Cauvery has several acute and dangerous curves and is wide enough to accommodate just two vehicles. In the absence of street lights, motorists traversing the stretch have to endure a risky drive at nights.
The Highways department had earlier drawn up a plan to strengthen the road at an estimate of ₹30 crore. However, the plan was revised after Chief Minister Edappadi K.Palaniswami recently visited Mukkombu to inspect the damage to the regulator across Kollidam River. The Chief Minister had instructed the Highways department to widen the road and execute the plan expeditiously.
At a recent District Road Safety Council meeting, Collector K. Rajamani had urged motorists to drive below 40km speed while traversing between Kudamuritti and Andhanallur as the stretch was a narrow one. Also, drivers of heavy vehicles should not overtake other vehicles, he had said.
