COIMBATORE: The Palakkad Railway Division has completed nearly 50% of the work on the Madukkarai-Marapalam railway underpass on the Coimbatore-Palakkad main road. Meanwhile, the State Highways Department has drawn up plans to take up road widening and land acquisition on both sides to develop it into a four-lane facility.
Officials said tenders for the road works will be called on August 5, and a meeting with private landowners has been scheduled for July 27.
The Madukkarai-Marapalam railway underpass expansion is a key infrastructure project on the busy Coimbatore-Palakkad highway. It aims to remove a long-standing bottleneck by replacing the narrow, British-era structure with a modern, high-capacity facility.
While works began in May 2025, the progress was slow. The project involves dismantling the old bridge and installing a new rectangular precast reinforced cement concrete (RCC) box structure, to hold the railway track on top and wider road connectivity for about 750m.
Sources said, the Palakkad Railway Division, which is executing the bridge work, has completed around 50% and expects to finish in the next four months. On the other side, the State Highways Department, responsible for developing the approach roads, had not started work earlier due to multiple hurdles. It has now moved to initiate land acquisition on both sides to widen the road and plans to float tenders in the coming months.
The road will be laid for 750m, including 89 metres within the underpass. The plan includes a four-lane main carriageway of 16.2m, 5.5-metre service roads on both sides, 1.5-m footpaths, and drainage.