Chennai Port-Maduravoyal double-decker road: Points to note

CHENNAI: Nearly a decade after stalling of the Chennai Port - Maduravoyal elevated road project, a memorandum of understanding was signed in the presence of chief minister MK Stalin and Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways VK Singh on Monday to construct the double-decker elevated project at a cost of Rs 5,855 crore.

The MoU was signed by the state government, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Chennai Port Trust and the Indian Navy at the Secretariat.

Here are the important points to note:

1) In the double-decker elevated road, the lower level between Port and Koyambedu will have 13 entries and exits from the first level for the benefit of local traffic.

2) On the upper level, only heavy vehicles would be allowed to travel to and from the Port to Maduravoyal,

3) Sources in the NHAI said that the elevated road would cover a total distance of 20.565 km from the Port to Maduravoyal.

3) Out of the 20 km, 12 km would be double-decker stretch from Port near Nappier Bridge to Koyambedu.

4) The lower level would be used by the local traffic without paying any user fee and it will have 13 entries and exits.

5) The vehicles plying from the city to Koyambedu could enter the lower level of the elevated road at Sivananda Salai, West Cooum River Road, Binny Road and College Road and exit at Anna Nagar Arch Road and Arumbakkam.

6) For the vehicles plying to the city, it could enter at Arumbakkam, Anna Nagar Arch Road and Spurtank road and exits at Spurtank road, South Cooum river road, Gandhi Irwin Road and Kamarajar Salai.

7) Former prime minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone for the project in January 2009 a 19.5km project at Rs 1,655 crore. The project came to a standstill J Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK government served a show-cause notice. The state PWD issued a notice in February 2012 to the NHAI to stop work citing obstruction to the flow of surplus water during the Cooum.