More than two years have passed since the Corporation mooted a proposal to make 1.5 km stretch from Salai Road intersection to Tiruchi-Karur road junction (Karur bypass road) as a smart road. But it is yet become a reality.
Considering the importance of the road, which is witnessing frequent traffic snarls due to heavy traffic, the civic body initially planned to transform the stretch under the Smart Cities Mission programme. Due to administrative reasons, it dropped the move and came up with a plan to implement the project under the Infrastructure Gap Filling Fund of the State government on an outlay of ₹8 crore.
The proposal envisages an extended two-lane with exclusive pedestrian platforms, bicycle tracks, development of stormwater drains and space for car parking. There is a plan to install ducts on either side of the road to accommodate cables instead of digging the carriageway. But the project has not been started yet. There are reasons for the road users to sulk over the inordinate delay in starting the work as people find it cumbersome while passing the stretch from Shastri Road, Salai Road and Maris theatre road.
Many feel driving on this stretch gives a nightmarish experience.
“The volume of traffic on Karur bypass road has tripled in recent years. Numerous vehicles, poor upkeep of road, inefficient traffic management - these are posing problems to vehicle users. It is high time the civic body took immediate steps to widen the road. There should not be any more delay,” says J. Rabinder, retired Chief Engineer of Public Works Department, a regular user of the road.
Corporation officials said that work order had already been issued for implementing the smart road project. The delay was mainly on account of ongoing underground drainage work on either side of the road. There should not be any confusion while implementing two projects simultaneously. The UGD works had been expedited. The smart road work would begin very soon, they say.
