The Tamil Nadu government has announced plans to build a four or six?lane elevated corridor along the congested Padi?Thirunindravur stretch of the Chennai?Tiruvallur Highway, aimed at substantially reducing travel times. Officials said the proposed roadway would be the longest elevated corridor in the state and could halve the journey time to Tirupati from Chennai.

The scheme covers a 22 km section where officials said travel time across the stretch could fall from 90 minutes to 25 minutes, and the trip to Tirupati could be reduced from three hours to 90 minutes. Widening of the existing carriageway will precede construction of the elevated structure to create sufficient working space.

State highways officials noted that the Padi?Thirunindravur portion of the Chennai?Tirupati National Highway was handed to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in 2012 and that road?widening plans were shelved after local opposition more than 13 years ago. They added that a Rs 1.53 bn allocation for land acquisition had been made a few years earlier and that acquisition was completed in Thirumullaivoyal and other locations.

Officials said the corridor will require a minimum carriageway width of 80?90 ft in places and that widening works will be taken up where feasible, with religious structures and shops among the major constraints. The department has replaced earlier proposals for a series of flyovers at Korattur?Padi, Ambattur Industrial Estate and Avadi and expects consultants to be appointed to carry out a feasibility study and prepare a detailed project report.

The existing four?lane road carries 0.15 mn vehicles daily and faces severe congestion, with freight movement causing gridlocks and localised dust pollution in north?western suburbs. Officials also noted that an 18 km access?controlled stretch between Thiruninravur and Tiruvallur has opened and that work on a 44 km section towards the Tamil Nadu–Andhra Pradesh border is about 30 per cent complete and is expected to finish by December.