CHENNAI: Two arms of the under-construction road overbridge at Perungalathur will be ready for inauguration by the end of August, according to State Highways officials. The combined length of the two arms is 800 m. However, work on three other arms — two arms in both directions of the Tambaram-Vandalur section for 1.2 km and one arm of 750 m towards Tambaram Eastern bypass (Sadanandapuram) — is expected to be delayed owing to issues in land acquisition.
“The one arm (800 m) landing towards New Perungalathur on Sreenivasan Ragavan Street over the railway line for which the ROB is being built will be ready by November or December,” said an official from the highways department.The construction of rotary type ROB with six arms at Rs 235 crore began in December 2019 and is targeted to be completed by December 2022. Owing to the delay, traffic snarls on GST Road are expected to continue for more than a year, inconveniencing motorists.
According to official documents, 0.9 hectares of reserve forest land at Vandalur were to be acquired for building an arm of ROB towards Tambaram Eastern bypass. Besides, 33/11KV Tangedco power sub-station is located along the alignment of ROB on GST Road.The highways department also sought 1,870 sq m of OSR land at Perungalathur to widen the slip road of arm landing towards Vandalur from Tambaram.
Official sources said the Chengalpattu district administration has identified alternative land to compensate for the forest land and sent a proposal to the government. Similarly, another proposal seeking 1,853 sq m of OSR land in Perungalathur for shifting the substation has been sent to the government.Residents of Perungalathur and motorists demanded that the work be expedited given that traffic congestion is increasing day by day.
“During peak hours, the stretch from Irumbuliyur to Perungalathur witnessed huge traffic congestion due to which residents heading towards Peerkankaranai are forced to halt in front of the level crossing. We staged a protest on the GST Road twice in the last month,” said S Marimuthu, an auto driver. As per the traffic estimation of November 2018, GST Road handled 1.5 lakh vehicles per day.
A highways official said, “The arm towards new Perungalathur/Peerkankaranai is bi-directional. If it is opened, the congestion will come down on GST. We have requested the transport department to shift the Perungalathur bus stand to Kilambakkam which is also obstructing the vehicle flow. Once, the Kilambakkam bus terminus is opened, the congestion on GST will come down significantly.”