Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami made multiple announcements in the Assembly on Monday geared to boosting road infrastructure in the city and ensuring smooth flow of vehicular traffic. Funds to the tune of ₹1,122 crore would be earmarked from the New Development Bank (NDB) to acquire land for 18 projects.

Making announcements for 2019-2020, Mr. Palaniswami said 13 flyovers, two railway overbridges, two foot overbridges and a bridge across a river would be constructed and, in the first phase, land would be acquired at a cost of ₹1,122 crore.

While the 13 flyovers would come up at Kattupakkam, Akkarai, Ambattur, Avadi, Madhavaram, Ramapuram, Kundrathur, Kaiveli, Selaiyur, Korattur, Vadapalani-P.T. Rajan Salai junction, Madhya Kailash and Madipakkam, a high-level bridge would come up at Padikuppam. A foot overbridge would be constructed in Tambaram, widening of railway overbridge would be taken up at Korattur and the construction of a railway overbridge at Ambattur would be taken up under the Chennai City Traffic Decongestion Project, he said.

Earlier, during his speech in the debate on the demand for grants for Highways and Minor Ports as well as Public Works Departments, DMK MLA S.R. Raja (Tambaram) pointed out that flyover projects in Pallavaram, Medavakkam, Keelkattalai and Velachery were still not completed, leading to vehicular traffic on the Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road.

ECR widening

Mr. Palaniswami also announced two road projects and two flyovers at a cost of ₹409 crore. While ₹299 crore would be spent on a road overbridge at the East Coast Road-Lattice Bridge Road junction in Tiruvanmiyur and widening of a section of the East Coast Road into a six-lane highway, two U-shaped flyovers would be constructed at Tidel Park junction on the Rajiv Gandhi Road at a cost of ₹110 crore.

The four-lane GST Road between Perungalathur and Singaperumal Koil would be converted into an eight-lane highway, he said and added that detailed project reports and detailed feasibility reports would be prepared on the possibility of constructing nine bridges and link roads at a cost of ₹2.35 crore.

The DFRs would be prepared at a total cost of ₹1.70 crore for bridges over Halda Junction-Adyar, Greenways Road-Santhome High Road-Lighthouse, Vadapalani-Porur, Little Mount-Velachery Byepass, Ambattur Telephone Exchange Junction, Basin Bridge Junction on Wall Tax Road, Vyasarpadi Junction and Thiru.Vi.Ka. Bridge-Maraimalai Adigal Bridge stretches.

The DPRs would be prepared at ₹65 lakh for construction of foot overbridges near two schools on Tirumangalam-Mogappair Road and also a foot overbridge between the Bus Depot and Industrial Estate in Ambattur, the CM added.