CHENNAI: To ease the traffic congestion at the busy junctions of Teynampet and Nandanam, the city corporation has given a nod in principle to build two grade separators. The first separator at Teynampet junction will connect Theyagaraya road and Eldams road, and it is to be constructed at a cost of `151.66 crores. The second at Nandanam junction will connect Venkatanarayana road and Pasumpon Muthuramalingam road at an estimated cost of `77.18 crores, according to corporation sources. Both projects will be financed by the Chennai Smart City Fund.
The proposals have been forwarded to the High Power Project Sanctioning Committee (HPPSC) that will sanction projects whose estimated cost exceeds `10 crores. According to the Indian Road Congress (IRC) guidelines, The PCU, a metric, used to assess traffic-flow rate, measures the impact of a mode of transport on traffic variables like headway, speed, and density when compared to a single standard passenger car.
Grade separation is defined as a type of intersection where one or more conflicting movements of intersecting highways are segregated, the IRC guidelines go on to say that these interchanges were costly and such a treatment to handle traffic would not be justified 'unless the benefits likely to accrue the community are so high as to exceed the high cost associated with such improvements. 77.18 crores have been allocated to build the grade separator at Nandanam junction that will connect Venkatanarayana road and Pasumpon Muthuramalingam road
IRC guidelines
According to the Indian Road Congress (IRC) guidelines, when traffic exceeds 10,000 Passenger Car Units (PCU) an hour, a grade separator may be warranted. The traffic in Anna Salai exceeds 14,000 PCU per hour, sources said.