The Projects Wing of the State Highways Department is set to construct a new four-lane bridge across the Koraiyar on Madurai Main Road in Tiruchi over the coming months.

The project, recently announced by the Highways Minister during discussions on departmental grants in the Legislative Assembly, will involve demolishing the current narrow bridge—which can barely support two-way traffic and is considered a potential bottleneck.

The road in question, connecting Kallukuzhi near the Railway Junction to the localities of Crawford and Edamalaipattipudur, serves as a key route to the forthcoming Integrated Bus Terminus (IBT) at Panjapur. This terminus is expected to be inaugurated shortly.

Although the National Highways Wing of the Highways Department had widened a section of this road between Panjapur and Edamalaipattipudur last year, funded by ?17 crore under the Central Road Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) scheme for 2023–24, the bridge itself remained untouched. Its reconstruction, along with the widening of the approach roads, has now been assigned to the department’s Projects Wing.

Local residents have long urged the authorities to replace the ageing and narrow bridge, which poses a significant traffic challenge. Its expansion is deemed essential to provide a viable alternate access route to the IBT, located off the Tiruchi–Madurai National Highway.

Departmental sources have indicated that estimation work for the new bridge is currently underway. Once the government issues the formal order, the tendering process will commence. With land acquisition for the approach roads already completed, the existing bridge will be demolished to make way for the new four-lane structure.

Although relatively small in scale, the project is expected to take around a year to complete, with consideration given to potential water flow challenges during the monsoon season.