452km State Highways in Tamil Nadu upgraded as National Highways

A detailed proposal to widen them into four-lanes has been submitted to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
Image used for representational purpose
Image used for representational purpose

CHENNAI : Six State Highway roads of about 452-km length have been upgraded as National Highways in Tamil Nadu. The roads declared as NH for widening are Thoppur Mettur-Bhavani-Erode (85 km); Salem-Thirupattur-Vaniyambadi (141.0 km), Athur-Perambalur (55.4 km), Tirupur-Oddanchatram road (90.8), Chengalpattu-Mahabalipuram (29 km) and Kodaighat-Kodaikanal (52 km).“These six have been notified as NH roads. A detailed proposal to widen them into four-lanes had been submitted by the National Highway Authority of India to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Once upgraded, the roads will come under the NHAI,” said an official.

According to official sources of the NHAI, lengthy roads with a huge vehicular movement connecting the NH roads had been proposed for upgrading into two and four lanes.The total length of the NH roads passing through the State is 5,481 km, of which 1,995 km roads are maintained by the National Highways department of the State government, while remaining 3,496 km roads are maintained by the NHAI. Both departments are funded by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Officials said a proposal had been submitted by the State government to upgrade 411-km State Highways roads, including Ooty-Kothagiri-Mettupalayam (42.4), Abdullapuram-Thirupattur (79.50 km), Vellore-Ussoor (8 km), Malur-Hosur-Adhiyamankottai (91.70 km), Thanjavur-Mannargudi-Thiruthuraipoondi-Vedaranyam-Kodiyakarai (113 km) and Erode-Dharapuram (78 km). The proposal is yet to get the official nod.

The upgrading of roads is expected to provide huge benefit to Vellore, Salem, Erode and Tirupur districts.
The 141.6-km Salem-Thirupattur-Vaniyambadi road connects Salem with Chennai-Bengaluru bypass road. The highly damaged road witnesses huge pile-up of vehicles during rush hour. The Thoppur-Mettur-Bhavani-Erode road also witnesses huge vehicle flow during rush hour. The road provides connectivity to the western Tamil Nadu from Salem. “Before commencing the widening work, we have requested the State government to sanction `10 crore to carry out the patch works at the Vaniyambadi-Thirupattur road at the earliest,” added the officer.

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