While residents of the city suburbs along Tiruchi-Karur highway are happy over the on-going work to widen the 11-km stretch between Tiruchi and Thindukarai, they are also eagerly hoping for the construction of a new bridge across Kudamuritti river, the starting point of the highway, at the earliest.
The existing bridge across the river, close to its confluence point with the Cauvery in the city, had grown weak over the years. Said to have been built under the British regime in 1924, the narrow bridge is unable to cater to the growing traffic. The Highways Department has also placed a signboard prominently asking motorists to ‘go slow as the bridge is in disrepair.’
The department had, a couple years ago, planned to build a new bridge across the river and included it in the proposal for widening and strengthening the Tiruchi-Thindukarai stretch of the highway at an estimated cost of ₹73 crore - ₹58 crore for widening work and ₹15 crore for building the new bridge across the Kudamuritti.
However, the new bridge proposal was de-linked from the project and the department said it would be taken up as a separate project. Earlier this year, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami had announced in the Assembly, in the Highways Department grants, that a new bridge will be built across the river.
G.O. for DPC
Highways department sources said a government order has since been issued for preparation of a detailed project report. However, sources indicated that the project could take some time to reach the execution stage as a team of experts would have to make a technical study and prepare the report. The department would have to decide on whether to build a new bridge at the same spot by demolishing the existing one or go for a couple of two-lane bridges on either side. The project, the sources indicated, may involve some land acquisition, which could prove to be a lengthy process.
However, residents hope that a new bridge would be sanctioned and built soon so to ease the traffic bottleneck at the entrance of the city. “Ideally, the project should have been executed along with the widening of Tiruchi-Thindukarai stretch. Once the road stretch is widened, the bridge will have to cater to more traffic,” observed P. Ayyarappan, a road safety activist of Allur, urging the district authorities and the Highways department to expedite the project.