The Tamil Nadu Highways Department has launched the Chief Minister Road Development Programme (CMRDP) to expand road connectivity to smaller towns and villages. A government order was passed and funds of Rs 55.82 billion were released to develop 3,159.74 km of roads under the Comprehensive Road Infrastructure Development Programme (CRIDP), which includes the CMRDP.

A highways official said the tenders have been floated for road work under CMRDP. The first year of the 10-year plan will focus on roads with higher vehicle density, and see the expansion of 34 two-lane state highways (147.9 km) into four-lane stretches, and 204 intermediate/single-lane roads (524.45 km) into two-lane stretches.

The programme, which aims at promoting 2,200 km of two-lane roads into four-lane and 6,700 km of single-lane and intermediate-lane roads into the double-lane stretches in the next decade, was sanctioned in principle in December 2021.

In addition, Rs 336 crore has been sanctioned for specific road projects, including improvement of Shanmugam Road, which connects Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road at Tambaram; Coimbatore Western Ring Road; footpath near Irukandudi Mariamman temple in Virudhunagar district, etc.

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