CHENNAI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lay the foundation stone for the country’s longest elevated corridor, aimed at quick and continuous freight movement from the Chennai Port, at a function at Maduravoyal on Thursday.
Explaining the project, Union Shipping Minister T R Baalu said the four-laned 19 km long corridor would be constructed at a total cost of Rs 1,655 crore, with Rs 310 crore outlay for land acquisition and rehabilitation.
The project would be undertaken on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), as part of the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP).
The corridor, which has an elevated length of 17.5 km, will take off from inside the Chennai Port near the War Memorial gate and will run along the banks of the River Cooum to the Koyambedu Grade Separator. The balance length will be at the centre of the NH-4 from Koyambedu to Maduravoyal.
The public will also benefit from the Expressway as entry ramps are being provided at Sivananda Salai, College Road and Koyambedu and exit ramps at Kamarajar Salai, Spur Tank Road and Koyambedu.
Toll plazas will be located at Spur Tank Road and Maduravoyal.
Baalu revealed that the State Government has, in principle, agreed to chip in with 50 per cent of the cost towards land acquisition and rehabilitation.
About 12,000 families of the weaker sections, especially the slum dwellers, will have to be rehabilitated. Providing alternative shelters to them could mean an estimated cost of Rs 258 crore.