CHENNAI: Travel time to Tirupati from Chennai (Padi flyover) could be halved to just 90 minutes if the Tamil Nadu government’s plan to build a four/six-lane elevated corridor along the congested Padi-Thirunindravur stretch of the Chennai-Tiruvallur Highway comes to fruition.
Nearly 13 years since road-widening plans on the section were abandoned, Public Works Minister Aadhav Arjun recently announced the project in the Assembly. When completed, the roadway, which would become the longest elevated corridor in the state, is expected to slash travel time across the 22-kilometre stretch from 90 minutes to 25 minutes and, to Tirupati in half, from the three hours it takes now.
Although the road forms part of the Chennai-Tirupati National Highway, the Padi-Thirunindravur stretch was handed over to the state government by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in 2012, following stiff opposition from local traders to the six-laning works and the resulting land acquisition.
Thus, the proposal to widen the stretch up to 150 ft was shelved. Currently, the road has an average width of 45-50 ft. State highways officials told TNIE that `153 crore was allocated a few years ago for land acquisition, and the process has been completed in Thirumullaivoyal and some other locations. Land acquisition is also under way to convert the existing two-lane road overbridge (ROB) ear battur railway station into a six-lane structure.
Road widening to start first before elevated corridor
“The 22-km stretch needs to be widened to a minimum of 80-90 ft to create adequate space for construction of the elevated corridor. Widening works will first be taken up wherever feasible. The major bottlenecks are not limited to shops, but also include religious structures at several locations,” an official said. The official added that the project has now effectively replaced the department’s earlier plan to construct flyovers at the Korattur-Padi Junction, Ambattur Industrial Estate/Depot junction, Avadi, and other places. Sources said consultants would soon be appointed to conduct a feasibility study, following which a detailed project report would be prepared.
The existing four-lane road, which carries 1.5 lakh vehicles daily, faces severe congestion, particularly at major suburban junctions such as Ambattur Industrial Estate, Ambattur, Thirumullaivoyal, Avadi, and Pattabiram. The movement of freight vehicles causes gridlocks during peak hours in the evening, besides causing dust pollution in the north-western suburbs.
Meanwhile, following the completion and opening of the 18-kilometre four-lane access-controlled stretch between Thiruninravur and Tiruvallur on the Chennai-Tirupati NH, the NHAI has commenced work on the 44-km Tiruvallur-TN/Andhra Pradesh border section towards Tirupati, which is also being developed as an access-controlled four-lane highway. Officials said around 30% of the work has been completed and the project is expected to be finished by December this year.
Gridlock at junctions
The existing four-lane road, which carries 1.5 lakh vehicles daily, faces severe congestion. At times, vehicular snarl-ups extend for up to two to three kilometres in the Ambattur Industrial Estate-Padi section
