COIMBATORE: In a move that has drawn sharp reactions from residents and road users, the national highways (NH) wing of the state highways department has dropped the proposed Saravanampatti flyover at Saravanampatti Junction on Sathyamangalam Road, citing the absence of a no-objection certificate (NOC) from Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL).
The project, which has seen multiple reversals over the past few years, was initially shelved along with the Saibaba Colony and Singanallur flyover proposals due to the proposed metro rail alignment in the city. However, it was later revived following a stakeholders' meeting chaired by former minister V Senthil Balaji in Coimbatore, raising hopes among commuters that long-standing congestion at the busy junction would finally be addressed.
Now, officials have confirmed that the flyover plan has been dropped yet again. Instead, the department has proposed junction improvement and road widening works at an estimated cost of Rs 13 crore, significantly lower than the Rs 80.48 crore earmarked for the flyover. A proposal has been sent to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) for approval.
Originally, the NH wing had designed a four-lane flyover spanning 1,415 m from Amman Kovil to Saravanampatti on the Sathyamangalam Road. However, CMRL had proposed a two-tier structure along the same stretch, with vehicular traffic on the first tier and metro rail on the second. Citing this overlapping alignment and the lack of an NOC from CMRL, highway officials decided to put the flyover project on hold and have now dropped it entirely.
Speaking to TNIE, a senior NH official said, "As the CMRL hasn't given the NOC, the Saravanampatti flyover project has been dropped. Instead, road widening and junction improvements will be taken up". The official also noted that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is in the process of taking control of the entire 329.4-km stretch of NH 948, which runs from Coimbatore to Bengaluru. Once the transfer is complete, NHAI may take a future call on the flyover and related works.
The decision has drawn strong criticism from activists and motorists, who argue that short-term junction improvements will not offer a lasting solution to the area's congestion.
K Kathirmathiyon, secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause and a member of the District Road Safety Committee, questioned the rationale behind seeking an NOC for a project on national highway land. "Why should an NH authority require clearance from another agency to build a flyover on its own stretch?" he asked. He further pointed out that several other flyover projects in the city, including GD Naidu, Trichy Road, Ukkadam-Aathupalam and Kavundampalayam, had faced objections linked to metro plans but were eventually completed. "If all those projects had been stopped citing metro objections, traffic congestion in Coimbatore would have worsened drastically," he said.
Kathirmathiyon also cited the example of Thudiyalur, where similar measures failed to significantly reduce congestion. "For 16 years, we've been told that the metro is coming up, but it hasn't materialised yet. In the meantime, traffic keeps increasing. The flyover project should not be dropped," he added.