The long-delayed culvert project being executed by the Southern Railway, near the Velachery railway station, is set to be completed by October end.
The culvert work once completed would pave the way for linking the Station Service Road between Velachery and Taramani railway stations, and provide a faster accessway to the IT corridor for motorists from the suburbs of Madipakkam, Ullagaram-Puzhithivakkam and Adambakkam.
B. Guganesan, chief public relations officer, Southern Railway, giving a progress report of the ₹7-crore culvert project, said with the foundation and the substructure completed, the culvert would be commissioned by October 21 once the precast slabs installed. He said the delay in completing the culvert resulted in the Station Service Road, which was paved to link the three railway stations on the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS), remaining unused for vehicular traffic for years.
The Station Service Road was planned as early as 2010, but was stalled for over a decade due to various reasons, including clayey soil conditions and the need for a bigger culvert to evacuate rainwater flowing into the Pallikaranai Marshland through a portion of east Velachery.
The Station Service Road would run parallel to the railway tracks of Velachery, Perungudi and Taramani, and would help ease the congestion at the Vijay Nagar junction in Velachery. It would also provide a shorter route for vehicles bound for the IT corridor.
T.K. Ramesh, a resident of Nanganallur, wanted the railway authorities to improve street lighting on the Station Service Road as heavy vehicular traffic towards Perungudi and Sholinganallur (where a number of IT companies are located) was expected.
