The consultant appointed to prepare the detailed project report of the 162-km-long Chennai Peripheral Road from Mamallapuram to Ennore Port has started work with an initial study.
According to a highways department official, the agreement with Stup Consultants was inked only recently. The consultant will submit the project report in 15 months.
The report will form the basis on which the Rs. 1,420-crore project, running through Singaperumalkoil, Sriperumbudur, Tiruvallur, Thamaraipakkam, Periyapalayam and Puduvayal, will come up.
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“The consultant will have to fix an alignment after looking at various options whereby there will be least disturbance to residential habitations. Existing and projected traffic estimates will be provided and proposed facilities including bridges, road overbridges and bypasses detailed,” the official said.
The firm will also study the financial viability of the project, the kind of funding, the funding agency and how the road will be constructed and implemented. Of the 162-km stretch, 83.2 km will be new formations, the official said.
The 35-km stretch from Mamallapuram on the East Coast Road to Singaperumal Koil will be a new formation as also the link between Ponneri and Kattupalli.
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Existing roads running to a length of 78.60 km including the Singaperumal Koil-Sriperumbudur Road (23 km), Sriperumbudur-Tiruvallur Road (18 km), Thamaraipakkam to Periyapalayam (12 km), Puduvoyal to Pulicat (6 km) and another 15 km to Kattupalli will be improved under the project.
“This stretch has been envisaged in the CMDA’s second master plan for Chennai Metropolitan Area and will provide high-speed connectivity to Ennore port, reduce accident rates inside the city, attract industrial investments and reduce repairs to city roads. As the Chennai bypass and the first phase of Outer Ring Road, which is under construction, see high volume of traffic, there is a need for another road to skirt the urban area,” said an urban planner. The Chennai bypass alone witnesses over 3.8 lakh vehicles a month.
The road will connect the East Coast Road, GST Road, the Chennai-Bangalore Highway, the Chennai-Tiruvallur High Road and GNT Road, thus touching industrial areas at Oragadam, Singaperumal Koil, Maraimalai Nagar, Sriperumbudur (where a dry port is coming up and a green field airport is slated to be built) and Tiruvallur industrial area, the planner said.