The highways department will soon call for bids for the construction of a three-lane flyover at Pallavaram on Grand Southern Trunk Road.
According to sources, the Rs. 90-crore flyover would be unidirectional.
Traffic going towards Kathipara from the Tambaram side can take it to avoid three junctions that get clogged during peak hours. The entire road witnesses the movement of 1.83 lakh vehicles a day and the stretch from Tambaram to the airport bears a traffic volume of around 12,000 vehicles during rush hours.
“It will help reduce traffic congestion on GST Road and movement of vehicles from interior roads including Kundrathur Road and Pallavaram Shanty Road would not be restricted,” said a source.
F. Alex, whose family has been residing in Pallavaram for four generations now, said Indira Gandhi Road was the only road leading to Pammal, Anakaputhur, Nagalkeni, Shankar Nagar and Thiruneermalai.
“Residents of these areas take this road to go to Tambaram, Chromepet and Thoraipakkam. Hundreds of people take this road on a daily basis and it is not broad enough. Unless this and other interior roads are widened along with the construction of the flyover, it would not help much,” he said.
A. Ilankumaran, a resident of Chromepet, said the stretch of Indira Gandhi Road leading to Kundrathur starts as a market road and there is traffic on it at all times.
“Apart from the shops, there is a temple and a police station on that road. Customers to the shop also park their vehicles in a haphazard manner. A shandy comes up every Friday and on those days the traffic is heavy,” he said.
The design for the 1,385 mt long facility is ready. “It would be similar to that of the flyover near the airport. The pillars would come up on the median so not much of space on the road below would be required. This design will also help reduce land acquisition,” said an official source.
The department is currently studying how traffic can be diverted during the construction period of two years. “Ideally traffic would be diverted through Shanty Road and a stretch of the old GST Road,” said a source.
