COIMBATORE: Motorists and shopkeepers have raised concerns over the newly laid service road along the Avinashi Road flyover as it has been paved without any milling works.
The special projects wing of the State Highways Department has been carrying out the flyover project works on the Avinashi Road over the past few years at a cost of around Rs 1,621 crore for a distance of 10.1 km.
As the works are being carried out in full swing, the officials have also finished over 75 per cent of the project. As a part of the project, they have also been paving a service road below the flyover.
In this situation, motorists and shopkeepers on that stretch raised concerns over the newly laid road as it was paved without any milling work. Hence, the people have demanded the officials to rectify this issue before the monsoon sets in.
S Raghav Kumar, a motorist from Peelamedu, said, “Roads are being paved on top of the existing surfaces without carrying out any milling works. This will result in water logging during the rainy season. Instead of paving the roads end to end, a small portion was left between the edge and the pedestrian pathway on that stretch.This poses a huge risk for motorists and this needs immediate attention from the concerned officials.”
M Selvam, a shopkeeper on the stretch told TNIE, “The height of this road has almost been tripled as the officials have paved a new road without milling out the existing one. Due to this, our shop which was already below the road level, has gone further down. As the new roads are tapered, all the rainwater will flow down into our shop. Hence, the concerned officials should look into this issue and take necessary action.”
A senior official from the State Highways Department special wing told TNIE, “The whole Avinashi Road is prone to waterlogging problems as it is in a low-lying area and rainwater is used to stagnate that stretch frequently.
To sort out that issue, the road is being paved without milling the existing surface, and stormwater drains will be built on the side of the entire 10 km stretch. The stormwater drain works are getting delayed because the Electricity Board (EB) department has not yet shifted the underground cables from the roadsides.
Once that is done, the drains will be built and the rainwater will automatically flow into them and there will be no water logging issues.”