Over 40% of the work to construct bypasses to Tiruporur town and Kelambakkam has been completed.
The ₹243.70-crore project will allow traffic proceeding beyond Tiruporur on the Rajiv Gandhi Salai to avoid the two thickly-populated places.
The work is part of the widening of the IT corridor, and had to be incorporated to avoid demolition of a large numbers of shops and commercial establishments.
Both places witness heavy local and through traffic — estimates say around 30,000 vehicles cross the stretches on a daily basis.
No parking space
“Since there is a lot of pedestrian movement, vehicles have no option but to drive slowly in these stretches. Since these are important local markets and due to the presence of IT companies, several brands too have set up shop along the road; there is also no space for parking. Cows are also a menace on these stretches and that makes driving even more difficult, especially at night,” said Shankar, a cab driver.
Upon completion in June 2020, the two 6-lane stretches — that run for a length of 4.65 km (Kelambakkam) and 7.45 km (Tiruporur) — will allow Rajiv Gandhi Salai to become a proper alternative to the GST Road and let motorists comfortably reach areas, including Thirukazhukundram and Thirumukkoodal, sandwiched between the East Coast Road and the GST Road.
“There are several industries in these areas, a Japanese industrial estate is also coming up in the vicinity, and the Chennai Peripheral Road would also be cutting across the Rajiv Gandhi Salai, which makes these bypasses all the more important,” explained a source in the Tamil Nadu Road Development Company, which is executing the project.
The bypasses run through lands belonging to the Salt Department and the Subramaniaswamy temple in Tiruporur. Grubbing and basic work is complete and bitumen is being laid in a few stretches.