The troubled Rangarajapuram Flyover has finally been completed. Officials say that the second arm of the flyover, which will connect West Mambalam to North Usman Road, is now awaiting inauguration by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Jayalalithaa had inaugurated the Kodambakkam arm of the flyover soon after its completion in September, months after she stormed to power in the 2011 elections.
Now, with the project complete and waiting for her to push the button, it is expected to ease congestion on the Kodambakkam Bridge and the Duraisamy Subway on either side.
The flyover that goes across the railway tracks has seen a number of delays over the period of its implementation. The Railways, which is in the practice of retaining the right to construct across its land, had handed over the bridge to the Corporation after the completion of its work. Corporation officials told City Express in May that they expected to complete the project by July, but it had taken a while longer.
The Y-shaped flyover was envisaged to allow road users to get from West Mambalam, Rangarajapuram and Kodambakkam to North Usman Road and Bazullah Road, without having to go all the way around. It is also expected to ease traffic density in the entire network of roads in the region with traffic distributed across.
The flyover project had been a bone of contention between the newly-elected AIADMK government and the previous DMK-controlled Corporation administration. The then Mayor M Subramanian had been trying to inaugurate the flyover without notification or invitation to the State Government, according to well-placed sources.
Subramanian had raised a strong note of protest when Jayalalithaa had inaugurated the Kodambakkam arm of the flyover through video-conferencing, saying conventions had not been followed.
Corporation officials say the formal inauguration is now in the hands of those who make the Chief Minister’s schedule.