Work on the four-lane project between Thuvakudi, in the outskirts of the city, and Thanjavur on National Highway 67 has been completed. The National Highways Authority of India is likely to go for the “partial commissioning” of the project, pending the construction of two road over bridges across level crossing at Ariyamangalam and Tiruverambur in Tiruchi city. A new bypass has been laid at Vallam as part of the project.
The four-lane project on the 56-km long highway stretch was taken up at a cost of Rs.280 crore under the National Highways Development Project-Phase III. The scheme is being executed by Madhucon Projects, under Build Operate and Transfer Scheme. The four-lane work has been completed on nearly 52 kms, between the BHEL campus and Thanjavur. NHAI sources indicated that collection of toll on the section is expected to commence shortly.
A public notification, announcing the basic rates of toll for various kinds of vehicles, was issued on Sunday. Accordingly, the M/s.Tiruchi-Thanjavur Expressways Limited would be collecting the toll, probably from May 10. The two ROBs were located further down towards Tiruchi city. According to sources in the NHAI, work has already commenced on the construction of the ROB at Tiruverambur, while work on shifting utilities such as power lines and water mains were currently under way at Ariyamangalam. Land acquisition for both the bridges has been completed.
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Both the ROBs would run parallel to the existing bridges, which would be strengthened to accommodate traffic on one direction. The two ROBs are expected to be completed by January/February 2012.