CHENNAI : Even as the proposed Chennai-Salem Expressway project is caught in land acquisition row, another project that will improve road connectivity from Salem to Vellore and Chennai is set to take off.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has approved the widening of Salem-Harur- Tirupattur-Vaniyambadi highway into four lane.
Since the 53-km road between Salem and Harur is proposed for widening as part of Chennai-Salem Expressway in the first phase, the National Highways wing of the State is to take up the 42.6 km stretch between Harur and Kathavani village near Tirupattur for widening. The project is estimated to cost of Rs 248.44 crore.
“The existing two lane road between Vaniyambadi and Salem has a width of 7 to 11 metres. The road will be widened into 23 to 25 metres with two lanes on both sides with a median.
“We have already invited bids for the project,” said a senior official from National Highways. The official added that detailed project report for the remaining stretch from Kathavani to Vaniyambadi is being finalised.
The 125 km Vaniyambadi- Salem stretch was part of State highways until a year ago and it connects Salem and neighbouring villages to Chennai- Bengaluru Bypass road at Vaniyambadi.
The road has been receiving huge traffic from Vellore, Ranipet and Chennai and its por condition has been causing hardship to motorists. Particularly, goods trucks heading to Salem take Vaniyambadi route to skip toll roads in NH 48 and NH 544, due to which the road witnesses a huge vehicle pile up in the evening hours.
To improve the stretch, the State government has handed over the road to national highways, and accordingly renumbered it as 179 A, instead of SH 18. The widening of the road is expected to get executed smoothly as the project does not involve much land acquisition, officials said.
“Presently, except in a few places, land for the width of 25 to 30 metres across the entire stretch is available with the Highways. The road widening work is likely to be taken up in another four to five months,” the official said.
After widening, the road is likely to be handed over to National Highways Authority of India. Subsequently it may get converted into a toll road.
“The decision on toll plaza will be taken after completion of road works,” the official said.