Work on widening phase-II of Old Mahabalipuram Road from Siruseri to Poonjeri near Mamallapuram is likely to commence in a year’s time.
The 25.2-km stretch is presently a four-lane facility with medians, but will have six lanes and service lanes on either side after it is widened. The authorities have decided to first take up work on the bypasses at Kelambakkam and Tiruporur. These alone are estimated to cost Rs. 300 crore.
One bypass, running a distance of 4.67 km, will come up in Padur near Kelambakkam and extend to Thaiyyur-B village, bypassing Kelambakkam. The other one, extending over a distance of 5.75 km, will take off at Kalavakkam and end at Vengaleri.
R. Sivaraman, a resident of Tiruporur, said widening of the stretch was essential as, over the last few years, there had been an immense amount of development of the area. “The Kelambakkam junction gets jammed during rush hour every day. And there is steady traffic flow throughout the day on the narrow road that has a lot of commercial development happening on either side,” he said.
Meanwhile, work on phase-I of Rajiv Gandhi Salai has been completed. Though tolling began in December 2008, it took six years for the service lanes, bus bays, bus shelters and footpaths to be completed.
