CHENNAI: Chennai has been waiting for the much delayed six-lane elevated corridor connecting Maduravoyal and Chennai Port for over decade now. As the work on the project is finally set to resume again, Express reliably learnt from official sources that the elevated corridor may be out of bounds for most of the Chennaiites.
The National Highways Authority of India wants the local traffic be not allowed or only for those who will be ready to pay a steep toll. Sources in the authority told Express that the corridor will reach its saturation level in just 10 to 12 years, if the local traffic are to be permitted. Hence, only container lorries headed to the Chennai port would be given access once the corridor is completed.
National Highway Authority of India sources told Express that as per the traffic projections, if allowed, about 25 percent of the traffic on the upcoming corridor will be the local traffic and hence leading to quicker saturation of its capacity. It is learnt that the NHAI is now seeking the concurrence of the Tamil Nadu government on denying access to ramps for local traffic and if the access is granted then it should be only through paying the toll.
The 20.3 km elevated project corridor from Maduravoyal to Chennai Port which was initially proposed way back in 2008 to decongest the container traffic on the busy roads like Anna Salai and Poonamallee High Road. The project hit a roadblock on March 2012 after the Water Resources Department issued a ‘stop work’ notice saying alignment of the corridor along the banks of the Cooum River had deviated from the original alignment as National Highway Authority had erected 32 pillars right in the Cooum river bed near Spur Tank Road and College Road instead of constructing the pillars on the river bank.
The State government said NHAI had unauthorisedly encroached upon the river bed by dumping debris, earth and construction materials near the Spur Tank Road, thereby obstructing free flow of water. The project, which was frozen for nearly seven years, was resolved as the state opted for the suggestion where in the alignment along Cooum River would have single piers at almost all places barring a few where it will be double pier.
The result being Maduravoyal-Chennai Port elevated corridor project now has additional 2km as per the revised detailed project report. As per the earlier plans, the length was only 18.3km. It is also planned to link this elevated corridor to another proposed corridor linking Maduravoyal to Poonamallee.
The last legal hurdle for the project was removed when the Tamil Nadu government last month withdrew its pending special leave petition in the Supreme Court.
Highway Sources said the final DPR provides for eight ramps for entry and exits along the elevated corridor. The entry ramps are planned at Sivananda Salai and College Road. The exit ramps will be at Kamarajar Salai, Spur Tank Road. These stretches will have both entry and exit ramps: between Arumbakkam and Koyambedu, between Koyambedu and Nerkundram, near Vanagaram and inside Chennai Port.