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March 08, 2024 12:50 am | Updated 12:50 am IST – CHENNAI
Traffic jams on East Coast Road up to the Uthandi toll plaza are quite common on at least three days a week. Photo: File | Photo Credit: M. KARUNAKARAN
The State government has accorded administrative sanction for the preparation of a techno-economic feasibility study for the construction of an elevated corridor along East Coast Road (ECR) from Thiruvanmiyur to Uthandi. The government has provided ₹52 lakh for the same.
The sanction follows the announcement by Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu in the State Budget 2024-25 to explore the possibility of the construction of a four-lane elevated corridor.
This portion of ECR, which falls under the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), is a busy stretch. Due to the growth of the adjacent information technology (IT) corridor, it has been witnessing increased traffic due to residential and entertainment spaces opening. Traffic jams up to the Uthandi toll plaza are quite common on at least three days a week.
With only 30.5 m of right of way available, widening the road is possible only to a certain extent due to prohibitive costs and thick urbanisation. “Widening of ECR has been under way for sometime now. But there have been too many court cases objecting to the same. People also refuse to part with prime property,” a retired Highways engineer said.
The consultant, who will be carrying out the study, will collect data, and prepare the alignment of the elevated corridor and land plan schedule, which shows ownership of properties along the road.
The Highways Department is already in the process of acquiring lands for the construction of an elevated corridor between the Thiruvanmiyur and RTO signals. This was proposed to help ease traffic flow on the stretch, which connects to the IT corridor. The design for this facility has been approved, and in that, provisions have been made for the Valmiki temple, which lies in the middle of the road, and the Marundeeswarar temple.
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