Much-needed relief for Korukkupet

New bridge across Buckingham canal will spare residents an hour-long wait at railway crossing

Korukkupet residents may soon be spared the tedious wait at the railway level crossing, which is said to sometimes extend up to an hour. The long detours they now take to avoid getting caught in traffic may be thing of the past too.

Solutions to these problems come in the form of a bridge that is being built by the Water Resources Department across north Buckingham canal, connecting Ezhil Nagar and Nehru Nagar.

This bridge, which is meant for small vehicles, is the second bridge to come up over the waterway in these parts. The other bridge built across the Canal — a single-lane footbridge — is a boon to pedestrians, especially schoolchildren.

Before the footbridge came up, people in Ezhil Nagar risked walking along the railway tracks. Following a demand from the residents, the department had built the foot bridge when the 17.3 km-long north Buckingham canal was widened under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. However, residents wanted a bridge that could be used by small vehicles as well.

The new facility, coming up nearly half a km downstream of the footbridge, will be a double-lane bridge constructed at a cost of Rs. 5 crore.

At present, vehicles wait for long hours at the railway level crossings on Ennore High Road and Manali High Road.

R. Deva, a resident of Nehru Nagar, said residents of areas such as Sathya Nagar, Ezhil Nagar A and B blocks, MGR Nagar, Netaji Nagar and Muthumariamman Nagar would have respite from traffic congestion once the new bridge was completed.

“Several schoolchildren and sometimes vehicles too use the single-lane bridge to avoid vying for space with tankers proceeding to Ennore and Manali. Once the level crossing gates are closed, we have to be prepared to wait for 10 minutes to even one hour. It used to be difficult especially for schoolchildren who just need to cross a distance of a few metres to reach Kannadasan Nagar,” he said.

The new bridge is 330-metres long and 7.5 metres wide across the north Buckingham canal.

Officials of the WRD said the facility would benefit residents of 10 areas in the neighbourhood. They added that the project was likely to be completed by this year-end.