Tiruvottiyur bridge opened

The Chief Minister said, “The bridge was announced by the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, considering the traffic congestion in the area. Though the tender was floated eight times, none came forward to take up the project, hence the delay. She was well aware of traffic issues and sanctioned the project based on a request by the residents.” The main issues that led to the delay of the project were land acquisition and constructing approaching roads. 

Pointing out that the bridge was constructed for people’s convenience, Palaniswami said, “Earlier, people, particularly office-goers and other workers suffered a lot, as railway officials often closed the gates. This bridge will help reduce traffic congestion in the area.” 

Palaniswami also said that a total of 61 Road overbridges have been constructed during AIADMK regime. “But, only 32 bridges had been constructed during DMK regime. Further, work on 85 bridges is under way across the state,” he said. 

The State Highway (Metro Wing) officials took up the construction work in 2014 and a total of Rs 47 crore was sanctioned. However, since work was delayed, they revised the cost of project to Rs 58.5 crore. 

Though work was intermittently stalled due to various reasons like land acquisition, it was supposed to have been completed by 2016. Meanwhile, residents and motorists, who had earlier fumed over the delay of construction, are happy now. “It is almost three years since the project started. Though it is too late, the officials should have accelerated work and completed earlier,” said Marimuthu, a resident of Tiruvottiyur.