The Tamil Nadu State Highways department has allocated Rs. 9.8 mn to prepare detailed project reports (DPRs) for five infrastructure projects in Chennai. The projects include an elevated corridor linking the Lighthouse area with Adyar near Malar Hospital, along with improvements to key bridges and a proposed link road.

The elevated corridor is planned to begin at Pattinapakkam, pass through Loop Road and connect to the Adyar landing near Malar Hospital. The project is intended to reduce congestion on Santhome High Road, which experiences heavy traffic during peak hours. The corridor’s length, width and other design details will be determined during preparation of the DPR.

The department is also examining an extension of one arm of the 1,720-metre Y-shaped Vyasarpadi road overbridge towards Madhavaram. The existing bridge begins near Basin Bridge and has two arms, one connecting Moolakadai, Madhavaram and Puzhal, and the other leading to Sathyamurthy Nagar Main Road near Kalyanapuram.

Another proposal involves widening the road overbridge at Basin Bridge junction, an important connection between Korukkupet, Vyasarpadi and Purasawalkam. The department has separately proposed widening the existing six-lane bridge over the Cooum river at Koyambedu on the Thirumangalam-Koyambedu section of Jawaharlal Nehru Road, also known as the Inner Ring Road.

The fifth project is a link road between Rajiv Gandhi Salai and East Coast Road. Its alignment and exact location will be finalised during the DPR preparation process. Four of the projects have been allocated Rs. 2 mn each, while the elevated corridor or another project has been assigned Rs. 1.8 mn, according to the government order issued by the department.