Two roads in Tiruvallur district, the Walajabad to Keelachery Road and the Singaperumalkoil to Red Hills Road, are being widened under the Chief Minister’s Road Development Programme (CMRDP) at a total cost of ₹81.93 crore. The launch of the CMRDP was announced in the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 2021 by Highways Minister E.V.Velu.
The roads are both two lanes wide, similar to the 2,200 km of roads to be covered under the scheme, and are being widened into four lanes, which means the present 7 metres width will become 16.20 metres. These roads connect the headquarters of two Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts, which is one of the criteria for selecting roads under the CMRDP.
The widening has been necessary taking into consideration the safety of motorists using these roads. Once widening is done, the number of vehicles is expected to gradually go up.
“Work that will be taken up as part of the programme includes improvements to curves, conversion of low-level causeways into high–level bridges across waterways, tree plantations and permanent measures for improving blackspots,” explained an official of the Highways Department.
Officials said that roads running to a length of about 8.30 km via Tiruvallur district are being widened. Work on the Walajabad – Sunguvarchatram – Keelachery Road will commence at the Kannur and end at Mappedu and 13 box culverts too, would be widened.
The work also includes construction of stormwater drains (SWD) and laying of paver blocks beyond the main carriageway. As far as the Singaperumalkoil – Sriperumbudur- Tiruvallur – Red Hills Road is concerned, nine box culverts would be widened and similar paver blocks would be laid and SWDs constructed as part of the work.
The works for 2,200 km of State Highways and 6,700 km of single lane roads that will be widened to two lanes will be taken up over a 10-year period,” an official said.
COMMents
SHARE