Stalin inaugurates second arm of the twin flyovers at Medavakkam

CHENNAI: Chief minister MK Stalin on Friday opened the second arm of the Medavakkam flyover connecting the Tambaram-Velachery section to ensure hassle-free movement of vehicles.

The state highways department has constructed two uni-directional three-lane flyovers on Velachery Tambaram Radial Road for Rs 146.41 crore. The Chief Minister had opened the first arm of the flyover connecting the Velachery-Tambaram section along with the Koyambedu flyover last year.

The second of the three-lane flyover at Medavakkam helps the motorist avoid three busy junctions - Medavakkam Sholinganallur road, Mount Medavakkam Main Road and Medavakkam Mambakkam road and it runs a total distance of 2.03 km. The first flyover which runs a total distance of 1.06 km helped motorists avoid Medavakkam Sholinganallur road and Medavakkam Mambakkam road.

The release said that with the opening of the twin flyovers, the vehicular congestion on the Medavakkam would be reduced and help reduce the travelling time of students, officer goers and motorists. The flyovers will help the people residing at Tambaram, Velachery, Medavakkam, Thoraipakkam, Sholinganallur Pallikaranai, ECR, IT Corridor, Taramani and Adyar areas.

According to the highway department sources, the Medavakkam Koot road is one of the busiest junctions which connects Tambaram, Velacherry and Shollinganallur.

On average, 1.30 lakh motorists use the stretch daily.

The state highways department started work on the twin flyovers at Medavakkam on Velachery-Tambaram road in 2016. But the work came to a standstill due to a delay in the land acquisition. With the flyovers coming up in the commercial areas, the land acquisition took longer than expected, the sources said, adding that the contractor who was awarded the work contract in 2016 ran into financial trouble leading to the termination of the contract.

“This led to further delay. The present contractor took over the project in 2019 but work got delayed due to various reasons including Covid lockdown,” sources added.