CHENNAI: After a gap of two decades, Greater Chennai Corporation is laying the foundation to build flyovers at congested junctions.
The corporation has submitted a proposal to the state government to build 15 grade separators at a cost of approximately `1,500 crore. The last time flyovers were built by the corporation was during the mayorship of M K Stalin, now DMK president.
Corporation officials are observing the proceedings of the ongoing state assembly and hoping the government will give a green signal to the proposal.
Government sources said it is likely that funds for grade separators, which do not involve land acquisition, may be initially sanctioned while the others will be taken up over the next few years.
Senior corporation officials said Chennai has a lower ratio of flyover/grade separator to regular city roads in comparison to Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi. This despite having the third highest two-wheeler population.
Officials said the 15 locations were priority intersection points and were decided after a detailed study by a consultant. These are in Kilpauk, Basin Bridge, Velachery, RA Puram, Teynampet and Ayanavaram.
The flyovers are expected to be short and the projects could be executed quickly at lesser cost. Integration with metro rail corridors has also been proposed. It is likely that like the Vadapalani flyover there may be multiple stacks of roads one above the other, to minimise land acquisition costs, an official said.
According to the proposal, focus will be given on laying a 1.8m wide footpath beside the flyovers with well-designed approaches on the on-grade roads for better accessibility and safety.
A senior official said congestion at signals leads to high emission of carbon dioxide and other polluting gases. “People living around the signal are affected by the pollution over a period of time. A flyover will ensure smoother traffic flow and bring down pollution levels,” the
official said. This is similar to big cities in developed countries which offer reliable public transport as well as riding comfort for motorists with flyovers, he said.
However, a transportation engineer working with the government said policy makers should work towards improving public transport instead of constructing flyovers to aid motorists.
“In transportation engineering, it is believed that flyovers are a temporary solution as they transfer vehicles from one junction to another. The long-term solution should be to reduce vehicle registration and push citizens towards mass rapid transit systems like metro rail, suburban trains by subsidising such modes and construction of bus rapid transit systems,” the engineer said.
The corporation has submitted a proposal to the state government to build 15 grade separators at a cost of approximately `1,500 crore. The last time flyovers were built by the corporation was during the mayorship of M K Stalin, now DMK president.
Corporation officials are observing the proceedings of the ongoing state assembly and hoping the government will give a green signal to the proposal.
Government sources said it is likely that funds for grade separators, which do not involve land acquisition, may be initially sanctioned while the others will be taken up over the next few years.
Senior corporation officials said Chennai has a lower ratio of flyover/grade separator to regular city roads in comparison to Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi. This despite having the third highest two-wheeler population.
Officials said the 15 locations were priority intersection points and were decided after a detailed study by a consultant. These are in Kilpauk, Basin Bridge, Velachery, RA Puram, Teynampet and Ayanavaram.
The flyovers are expected to be short and the projects could be executed quickly at lesser cost. Integration with metro rail corridors has also been proposed. It is likely that like the Vadapalani flyover there may be multiple stacks of roads one above the other, to minimise land acquisition costs, an official said.
According to the proposal, focus will be given on laying a 1.8m wide footpath beside the flyovers with well-designed approaches on the on-grade roads for better accessibility and safety.
A senior official said congestion at signals leads to high emission of carbon dioxide and other polluting gases. “People living around the signal are affected by the pollution over a period of time. A flyover will ensure smoother traffic flow and bring down pollution levels,” the
official said. This is similar to big cities in developed countries which offer reliable public transport as well as riding comfort for motorists with flyovers, he said.
However, a transportation engineer working with the government said policy makers should work towards improving public transport instead of constructing flyovers to aid motorists.
“In transportation engineering, it is believed that flyovers are a temporary solution as they transfer vehicles from one junction to another. The long-term solution should be to reduce vehicle registration and push citizens towards mass rapid transit systems like metro rail, suburban trains by subsidising such modes and construction of bus rapid transit systems,” the engineer said.
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