CHENNAI: As the government is working towards improving the road linkage between Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) and East Coast Road (ECR), developers feel it will boost the demand for residential units along ECR and office spaces along OMR. Linking of ECR and OMR will increase the connectivity and movement between these corridors, and complement each other, said A Shankar, Chief Operating Officer, Strategic Consulting, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).
He said most of the IT population staying along the OMR go to ECR for leisure and entertainment activities, therefore, making it more of an integral corridor will ease traffic along these roads. “This will increase the demand for residential units along ECR and office spaces along OMR due to better connectivity, leading to price rationalisation in the micro-market, covering both OMR and ECR,” Shankar added.
Currently, limited connectivity between these two important roads results in extended detours, longer travel time and traffic congestion in the areas served by the roads. It is learnt that the proposed linkages between the two roads will cross over at Buckingham Canal, which flows longitudinally from north to south, parallel to, and in between OMR and ECR. The project was considered by CMDA as south Chennai was poised to grow in the coming years.
The area serves for residential, industrial and mixed utilities and is earmarked as an IT corridor area in the second master plan. S Sridharan, Chairman, CREDAI, TN Chapter, while speaking to Express, said, OMR is congested and navigating your way out of it is difficult during the peak hours. Linking of ECR and OMR will reduce traffic blocks and boost development in the area. He said the demand for residential units will raise once the roads are linked, as it would bring a huge relief from the usual traffic snarls.
Anup Vasanth, MD, Savills India (Chennai), said that the link road between ECR and OMR at Navalur is a welcome step and it would generate demand for residential units. Currently, there are three major links within the study area. Two of them are located 700m away from each other in Thiruvanmiyur.
The other major link at Sholinganallur, known as the Sholinganallur Main Road, is about 10 km away from the first two links. The strip development is likely between OMR and ECR, extending to approximately 1,000 m on the respective sides of OMR and ECR till shoreline and 1,000 m north of Thiruvanmiyur and the same distance south of Chennai Metropolitan boundary at Navalur.
Work on 62-km ORR delayed due to rains
Chennai: Rains have disrupted ongoing works on the two-decade-old 62-km Outer Ring Road (ORR) project from Vandalur to Munjur, which was initially planned to be completed by the first week of November.
However, Tamil Nadu Road Development Corporation (TNRDC) is aiming to open it by the end of this month, said a TNRDC official. While the first phase of the project, covering 29.2 km from from Vandalur to Nemilichery has been completed and opened for traffic, the second phase, spanning 33.10 km from Nemilichery to Minjur was facing hurdles over acquisition of lands. A top TNRDC official said the work may be finished before the end of this month.