Pallavaram flyover inches close to completion

Chennai

Official sources in the Highways Department said that the approach on the Guindy side was completed while work on the road on the Tambaram side was being finished. “We would have completed the work by mid-April if not for the COVID-19 lockdown. We resumed the work last month with minimal number of workers to maintain social distancing. As all the migrant workers have gone back to their hometowns, we have engaged local workers to complete the remaining work,” said a Highways Department official.

To ease traffic along three junctions including Alstom signal, Pallavaram Sandai Road and Kundrathur Road, the Highways Department began construction of the flyover in September 2015, with the project cost pegged at nearly Rs 82 crore. “It is a 1.5 km-long flyover. The volume of work is high compared to other flyovers. We have completed 95 per cent of work in one of the busiest stretches in the city,” the official said, adding that only minor works were pending.

To facilitate construction, the department strengthened the Old Trunk Road and took permission from the Cantonment Board and laid the Kundrathur Road after removing encroachments on either side. The 25-ft road was widened into a 40-ft road after the removal of encroachment.

As more than 2.25 lakh vehicles use the GST Road every day, diversion of vehicular traffic was a major problem they encountered. “The traffic snarls were daily affair due to the construction work in the pre-COVID period. Even now, vehicles can be seen plying at slow speed while crossing Pallavaram. We hope opening of the flyover will ease the movement of vehicles,” said R Gangadharan, an autorickshaw driver.