COIMBATORE: The National Highways wing of the State Highways Department has announced plans to widen the Nagapattinam-Coimbatore-Gundlupete NH 181 (Mettupalayam Road) at an estimated cost of Rs 150 crore.
The Mettupalayam Road runs through Coimbatore for over 40 km and is a busy stretch in the city. The traffic on the stretch has been increasing over the years. The 7-km stretch starting from Vadakovai flyover to the Thudiyalur Police Station, which comes under city limits, in particular witnesses frequent traffic snarls.
In view of this, the highways department had planned to construct flyovers at the Kavundampalayam, GN Mills and Thudiyalur junctions and completed constructing flyovers at Kavundampalayam and GN Mills junctions.
Speaking to TNIE, a senior NH official from Coimbatore said, “Considering the traffic flow and rising number of vehicles on the Mettupalayam Road, we’ve planned to widen it by removing encroachments, uprooting trees and paving roads wherever necessary.
The project is set to be executed in two phases. In the first phase, we will be removing encroachments from the Poo Market to the Highways Department office near the Vadakovai flyover. In the second phase, the stretch from Vadakovai flyover and Bhavani River bridge will be widened.
The main junction near the Mettupalyam bus terminus will be improved.”
Apart from that, the 40-year-old bridge across the Bhavani River which is in a dilapidated condition will be repaired and a new bridge will be built parallel to it at an estimated cost of Rs 12 crore.
Also, the Thuri Palam - the iron bridge near the Kallar check post will be replaced with a new bridge. No additional land is required for the project, so Land Acquisition (LA) won’t be necessary.