CHENNAI: The State highways department says that work on widening of Velachery main road between Selaiyur police station and Camp Road junction will begin by January. The 300-metre stretch is a bottleneck hampering smooth of flow of vehicles during peak hours.
In response to a petition filed through the CM special cell by P Viswanathan, a local activist, the highways department has said the department was involved in land acquisition process and work will commence once the acquisition was completed.
The Additional divisional engineer, Tambaram, Anandaraj told Express that the acquisition process was in its final stages and the department hopes to start work in the early part of next year.
“We are trying to take 50 feet on either side of the road as mandated by CMDA,’’ he said.
The 300-metre stretch is lined with commercial establishments with new ones opening as late at last month.
A clothing shop along the stretch which opened recently is confident that the acquisition process would continue for atleast another few years.
While, a wide array of shops, from fast food to clothing stores and ice cream parlours line the stretch and cater to the nearby residents of Selaiyur and Camp road, residents rue crossing the stretch during peak hours.
“It takes 15-20 minutes to cross the 300-metre stretch when I leave for work in the morning,” said Sam Timothy of Camp road.
The highways department claims that road widening on the stretch will begin in three months. Work on the remaining part of 1.5 km stretch marked for expansion, from Aadhi Nagar, will take at least 18 months to begin.