According to civic officials, traffic congestion is high at the Guru Nanak College Junction and the Five Furlong Road Junction.
| Photo Credit: File photo
A three-km flyover connecting Guindy to Velachery at the Guru Nanak College Junction will be built at a cost of ₹310 crore, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu announced on Friday.
According to civic officials, traffic congestion is high at the Guru Nanak College Junction (Phoenix Mall Junction) and the Five Furlong Road Junction. A traffic survey recorded a peak-hour volume of 7,459 passenger car units per hour at the Five Furlong Road Junction and 7,742 passenger car units per hour at the Guru Nanak College Junction. “A flyover has been proposed to ease the congestion,” an official said.
According to an official of the Bridges Department of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), the two-lane and 12-metre-wide bridge will start after Sardar Patel Junction on Velachery Main Road and extend past the Phoenix Mall at Velachery. “This will cover Race Course Road Junction, Five Furlong Road Junction, and Velachery Bypass Road Junction. Further, 5.5-metre-wide uni-directional down ramps are proposed on Five Furlong Road and near the Guru Nanak College. A 5.5-metre-wide service road and a 1.5-metre-wide footpath are proposed on both sides,” an official said.
A public consultation will be held soon. About 1,100 square metres of land will have to be acquired, and tender is likely to be floated in three months, the official said.
ROB at Korukkupet
The Budget Estimate also mentions that a railway overbridge (ROB) between Korukkupet and Vyasarpadi, to be constructed by the GCC along with the Ministry of Railways, has been allocated ₹70 crore. “This will be a 600-metre, two-lane railway overbridge of steel. The approach portion would be executed by the GCC’s Bridges Department. The ROB is expected to link the level crossing no. 2 near the Korukkupet railway station with Thyagappa Street and Kannan Street.
“The vehicles are being stopped owing to the closure of the level crossing several times a day to facilitate uninterrupted train traffic. As vehicles back up for a long period, members of the public are inconvenienced,” according to an official.
The length of the ROB is 555 metres, including the railway portion length of 55 metres. The width is 8.40 metres. It starts at Thyagappa Street, 60 metres from the Ennore High Road Junction, crosses the rail lines at a 30-degree skew, and ends at Kannan Street.
“The Railways sanctioned this project and included it in its works programme for 2023-24. About 1,550 square metres of land is to be acquired for this project. The estimate cost of the project is ₹60 crore. This ROB will be beneficial to over one lakh people residing in and around the Korukkupet, M.K.B. Nagar, Kannadasan Nagar, Ezhil Nagar, and MGR Nagar,” he said.
Other projects
The Budget sets aside ₹486 crore for upgrading 570 km of urban roads in the GCC’s 15 zones. A total of ₹150 crore is expected to be allocated under Tamil Nadu Urban Road Infrastructure Fund and ₹60 crore under Nagarpura Salai Membattu Thittam. Further, 1,759 roads to a length of 295 km are to be relaid at an estimated cost of ₹276 crore. Of this sum, ₹180 crore will come in loans/grants and ₹96 crore from the GCC, according to the Chennai Corporation.
The Integrated Solid Waste Management Project, approved by the Corporation Council, will be implemented at Kodungaiyur at a cost of ₹3,450 crore. The project comprises a bio-CNG plant, a composting facility, an automatic material recovery facility, and a plant generating 21 megawatts of electricity from solid waste, according to the Budget.
Furthermore, an allocation of ₹100 crore was made for the establishment of science centres in Chennai, according to the Budget Estimates. The Budget also points to the GCC’s plan to raise ₹200 crore through municipal bonds. This sum will fund in part the integrated storm water drain project in the Kosasthalaiyar Basin.
Published – March 15, 2025 12:40 am IST