Work begins on 2-tier elevated e-way
Speaking to DT Next, NHAI sources said all the works are scheduled to be completed by 30 months on May 20, 2026, and added that the appointed date for all four packages has been declared on November 23, 2023.
Representative image
CHENNAI: After 11 long years, work on the double-tier elevated expressway from Chennai Port-Maduravoyal, a project that is estimated to cost Rs 5,510 crore, has finally commenced along the Cooum river on Langs Garden Road.
J Kumar Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, the Mumbai-based contractor that won all four packages of the 20.593-km elevated corridor work, has begun preliminary works along the Cooum bank.
Speaking to DT Next, NHAI sources said all the works are scheduled to be completed by 30 months on May 20, 2026, and added that the appointed date for all four packages has been declared on November 23, 2023.
The elevated corridor project, costing Rs 5,510 crore, will facilitate seamless movement of vehicles. Of the 20.6 km elevated corridor from the Port to Maduravoyal, 12.5 km from Napier Bridge to Koyambedu will be double-decker. The first tier will facilitate local traffic movement between Koyambedu and Chennai Port, with 13 ramps – seven entries and six exits.
The second tier has been designed exclusively for port-bound heavy vehicles between Port and Maduravoyal. The project runs along the Cooum from Napier bridge to Koyambedu and will then run along the Chennai-Bengaluru Highway after Chennai Metro’s CMBT station junction till Maduravoyal.
The project will help ensure the speedy movement of cargo in and out of the port. At present, trucks ply through the port’s northern end in Royapuram via Manali. Once completed, the elevated project will allow entry and exit through the southern end of the port in the heart of the city.
Originally designed as a 19-km elevated expressway, the foundation stone for it was laid by the then prime minister Manmohan Singh in 2009. The initial estimate was fixed at Rs 1,468 crore. However, after the AIADMK government came to power in 2011, the project was stalled citing environmental and alignment issues along Cooum in March 2012.
In May 2022, the DMK government headed by Chief Minister MK Stalin revived the project and signed an MoU for the two-tier elevated project.