Work to begin on Vadapalani flyover in Chennai

The Tamil Nadu Highways Department is to commence work on a flyover on Jawaharlal Nehru Salai in Chennai. The Rs 69.4-crore facility will come up over the Vadapalani junction and the central portion will be integrated with the Metro Rail station, which will be the highest elevated station. A separate bay will be constructed inside the station so that MTC buses can drop and pick up passengers.

Work to construct 900 metres of stormwater drains and service lanes for the project will be taken up shortly. The tenders for these works have been settled and the contractor will commence work soon. It will take two months for completing these works, an official concerned said. A total of 3,000 sq mt of land is required for the service lanes along the 450-metre-long four-lane flyover.

Recently, over 30 shops near the Vadapalani police station were demolished after a court ruling came in favour of the widening of the road to facilitate the creation of the service lanes. A case pertaining to land belonging to a temple in the vicinity is still in court.

Traffic on the busy arterial road will be diverted to the lanes once they are constructed. Work on construction of pillars will then be taken up by the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL). The work on the flyover is being jointly carried out by the CMRL and the highways department.

Recent traffic studies established the need for a flyover at the junction of Arcot Road and Jawaharlal Nehru Salai. During peak hours alone, 11,000 vehicles ply the section on Jawaharlal Nehru Salai between Kathipara and Vadapalani and 12,000 vehicles pass through the Vadapalani-Koyambedu section. A total of 1.85 lakh vehicles use the road every day.