Light House-Kottivakkam elevated road back on track, now as Sea Link Bridge
The proposal was among the six ‘future highway projects’ for the city that were reviewed by Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who also holds the Special Initiatives Department portfolio.
Light House in Marina beach
CHENNAI: More than a decade after scrapping the proposal to construct an elevated road from Light House on Marina beach to East Coast Road in Kottivakkam, the State government is planning to revive the project. However, the alignment is likely to change, as the proposal is to build it as a "Sea Link Bridge".
The proposal was among the six ‘future highway projects’ for the city that were reviewed by Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who also holds the Special Initiatives Department portfolio.
"It is in a very preliminary stage. A feasibility study will soon be carried out to finalise the alignment for the proposed sea link bridge," sources said, adding that the project was mooted to decongest Santhome High Road, Greenways Road, Sardar Patel Road, and Lattice Bridge Road, and provide a direct link to ECR from the city centre.
In 2007, the department had proposed a 9.7-km-long elevated link road from Light House to ECR near Kottivakkam, which was to be constructed in two phases. In the first phase, it planned to construct an elevated road from Light House to Besant Nagar near Ururkuppam. The second phase from Besant Nagar to East Coast Road along the coast was to make use of the existing alignment.
However, the project faced stiff resistance from fisherfolk, who feared that their livelihood would be affected. Environmentalists, too, were unhappy as it threatened the nesting habitats of Olive Ridley turtles. The AIADMK government which came to power in May 2011 dropped the elevated road project as promised during its election campaign.
Pointing out the severe traffic congestion on Greenways Road and DGS Dhinakaran Road, the Madras High Court on February 21, 2020, asked the government and Greater Chennai Corporation to examine the feasibility of reconstructing the Loop Road, which stretched till Besant Nagar before the 1970s.
When asked, a retired highways official cited the example of Atal Setu, the road across the sea that links core areas of Mumbai with Navi Mumbai. “It is possible to construct a sea link road from Light House to Kottivakkam after getting CRZ clearance. It would help decongest the city roads," he said.