Work on the massive grade separator at Singaperumalkoil that will allow vehicles from Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road to reach Oragadam without stopping for the railway gate to open is moving fast and is likely to be completed by October.
According to sources in the highways department, the arm on the GST Road side leading to Oragadam crossing LC 47 was nearing completion. “All that remains on this arm is a portion of the elliptical rotary that is being cast in-situ. Since the work is being carried out on the extremely busy national highway, we are unable to stop vehicle movement, which is why most of the work happens at night,” an official said.
A long line of heavy vehicles waits daily on GST Road since the construction of the grade separator . “Sometimes two lanes of the road remain unusable making it difficult for other vehicles to navigate the stretch. During weekends, the line reaches up to the Paranur toll plaza even,” said Chelladurai, a taxi driver, who takes the route often.
Srinivasan, a resident of Singaperumalkoil, who welcomed the resumption of work, pointed out to the power poles, cables and a transformer standing in the alignment of the grade separator. “We also hear that there are water mains underground that need to be moved. As residents we only want the traffic jams to be gone,” he said. The project had been put on hold for several years due to various reasons. Only the Sriperumbudur side arm had been completed.
Official sources said that tenders had been called for shifting power lines but could not be processed due to the Model Code of Conduct. This was the second call and this time the price has been revised since there was no response for the first call, they added.
