Rs 3,570-crore Port-Maduravoyal corridor work to begin next month

CHENNAI: The work on the two-tier Chennai Port-Maduravoyal elevated road will begin next month with the NHAI and the Mumbai- based J Kumar Infra Pvt Ltd signing Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) agreement for the Rs 3,570 crore project.

After the payment of the bank guarantee for the performance security, a formal EPC agreement has been entered between the NHAI and the contractor, said NHAI sources.

The NHAI had issued the letter of acceptance to J Kumar infra after it emerged the lowest bidder in all the four packages of the 20.6-km project.

Sources said the work is likely to commence in October. The timeline for completion of the work is 30 months.

Of the 20.6 km elevated corridor, 12.5 km will be a double-decker from Napier Bridge to Koyambedu. The tier-one of corridor will facilitate movement of local traffic between Koyambedu and Port, with ramps in 13 – seven entry and six exit – points. The tier-two has been designed only for the Port-bound heavy motor vehicles. The project runs along the Cooum from Napier Bridge to Koyambedu and then along Chennai-Bengaluru Highway after Metro’s CMBT station junction till Maduravoyal.

The project will help in the speedy movement of cargo in and out of the Port. At present, trucks to and from the ort ply through the port’s northern end in Royapuram via Manali.

However, the elevated project will allow entry and exit through the Port’s southern end in the heart of the city.

The foundation stone for the stalled 19-km Port-Maduravoyal Elevated Expressway was laid by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2009 at Rs 1,468 crore. The AIADMK government stalled it citing environmental and alignment issues along the Cooum.

The project was revived by the DMK government with an MoU signed in May 2022 for the e-way at a cost of Rs 5,885 crore.