COIMBATORE: Work to construct the Western Ring Road, a long pending demand of residents of Coimbatore, will begin in March, the state highways department has said.
Officials said the tender for the first phase of the three-phase project will be finalized for laying an 11.80 km road in March. "Land acquisition for the first phase is over at Rs 240 crore and we have floated tenders for the same. The last date for submitting applications is March 16 and the application will be finalized on March 17. The works for laying the road will begin immediately after finalizing the tender," said a senior official from the highways department.
The four-lane road would help motorists from south-west parts of the district to reach the northern parts without entering the city, which would reduce the traffic congestion in the city by 40% and would bring down the travelling time between Mayilkal and Narasimhanaickenpalayam to one-third.
According to sources, the alignment of the project, which was announced in the state Assembly in 2010, has been changed over four times so far. The road was initially proposed to be laid from Palakkad Road at Madukkarai to Mettupalayam Road via Perur Road, Marudamalai Road and Thadagam Road. Later, it was proposed to be laid from Kuniyamuthur to Thudiyalur.
However, in 2014, the department said the road would end at Narasimanaickenpalayam and in 2019, they changed the alignment again and proposed to start the project from Mayilkal on Palakkad Road to Narasimhanaickenpalayam on Mettupalayam Road for a total distance of 32.43 km. In the second and third phases, the distance has been split up between 12.10 km and 8.52 km respectively.
A total of 306 patta land for 119 acres and 23 acres of government land have been marked for the project. For the compensation against the land, the state government has released Rs 320 crore.