Land to be acquired for Marappalam underpass expansion

The Coimbatore district administration is set to begin the land acquisition process for it.
Image used for representational purposes only
Image used for representational purposes only
Updated on
2 min read

COIMBATORE: The wheels are turning on plans to expand the railway underpass at Madukkarai Marappalam, as an official team from the revenue, railways, police and state highways departments conducted an inspection at the spot for land acquisition as well as for the traffic diversion on the inter-state route.

The team, which visited the site on Thursday, has identified two alternative routes to divert the traffic for the next one year as “the work is expected to be completed within a year”. Also, it has planned to acquire 3,500 square metres of land for the expansion project, for which “Rs 34 crore has been allocated on a 50-50 share basis by the railways and the highways departments”.

Based on the officials’ suggestions, the district administration, through the police department, is expected to announce traffic diversion on Coimbatore-Palakkad Road and commence the work soon, said sources.

The Coimbatore district administration is set to begin the land acquisition process for it. The expansion of the Marappalam Railway Underpass on the Coimbatore-Palakkad main road at Madukkarai aims to accommodate four lanes to ease the traffic flow on the inter-state route. At present, the underpass has a single lane (5.5 metres width and 4.7 metres height) which is causing bottlenecks on the route.

Following the demand for its expansion, the Coimbatore district administration had proposed a plan to dismantle the existing structure and reconstruct the railway bridge with a four-lane carriageway (18 metres width, including 3 metres of footpath and 5.7 metres height).

According to the sources, the highways department has completed the soil test and planned to acquire around 3,500 square metres of land around the underpass to develop the road connectivity. Technically it would be constructed with a railway box-length of 82.70 metres and width of 21.90 metres as it covers five tracks and the space for future developments.

The officials attached to the project said that once the district administration approves the traffic diversion, the railway department (Palakkad division) initiates the construction of the underpass. After that, the state highways department develops the junction by acquiring land.

As it is a major railway connectivity for Tamil Nadu, Kerala and other states, the railways plan to construct the underpass without disrupting the train traffic, a senior official said, adding that Rs 34 crore has been allocated for this project on a 50-50 share basis by the railways and the highways departments. When the old bridge is dismantled, the trains would run on a temporary bridge until the new one is built. Simultaneously the state highways department plans to begin the expansion of the approach roads to the underpass.

“After the inspection, we started the work on land acquisition. We submitted the plan report to the district administration suggesting traffic diversions. We have identified two alternative routes within a 2-km radius for the diversions. Once the traffic is diverted, the railways would begin its work and simultaneously the highways department would begin the land acquisition work. The entire work is expected to be completed within a year,” the officer said.

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