Double-decker flyover design for south Chennai gets nod from Highways

Work on the facility at the Vijayanagar junction in Velachery is expected to commence in January and take three years to complete

Work on the double-decker flyover at the Vijayanagar junction in Velachery in south Chennai is expected to commence in January.

The project is likely to take three years as the work includes construction of a foot overbridge for pedestrians and a macro drain to connect the Veerangal odai.

Sources said the design for the facility had recently been cleared by the designs wing of the highways department.

Both the flyovers will allow one-way traffic and have two lanes each. The first level that will take off from Velachery Bypass Road and land on the road to Tambaram near the Velachery MRTS station will be 640 metres long. It will land around 190 metre ahead of the MRTS bridge.

The second-level flyover, at a height of 15 metres, will run from Taramani Link Road to Velachery Bypass Road and be 1200 metres long.

The Rs. 98.22-crore project is expected to help decongest traffic on the important junction that has roads connecting to Tambaram, Guindy and the IT Corridor. A traffic study conducted by consultants as part of the detailed project report and submitted in February 2012, showed that every day, a total of 72,800 vehicles took the Tambaram Road, 55,900 Velachery Bypass, 57,300 Taramani Link Road and 4,300 Big Street.

Pedestrian traffic too is heavy at the busy junction where, in the evenings, over 4,000 pedestrians walk along the roads and 2,400 cross the road. A skywalk from the Vijay Nagar junction to the Velachery MRTS station is also being planned.

M. Manikantan, a resident, said he avoided the junction as it took a lot of time to cross it amidst the heavy traffic. “The Tambaram Road also narrows down near the junction. I commute to Ramapuram daily for work and I prefer to take the road to the St. Thomas Mount railway station and then GST Road,” he said.

The project, sources said, required 1,500 square metres of land. “The acquisition is under way and is likely to be completed in time for commencement of work. The process of acquiring land began in September last year,” the official said.

The sources said tenders would be called for the project in 45 days.