Flyover lacks speedy makeover

Chennai: To ease the traffic chaos in North Chennai, the state Highways Department has taken up construction of a road over-bridge at Vyas­ar­padi and a flyover at Mo­ol­akadai junction on arterial Grand Northern Tr­u­nk (GNT) Road three years ago. But, much to the dismay of motorists, the work is progressing at a snail’s pace.

Work on the construction of the Rs 49.55 crore flyover at Moolakadai jun­ction on GNT road was initially hit due to delays in land acquisition and shifting of water pipe­li­nes. “We have cleared all the hurdles and handed over the area required for construction of the flyover to the contractor. But the financial problems faced by the contractor has res­ulted in slow progress of work,” sources in the hig­hways department said.

The official said that they had issued notice to the contractor for delay in construction work. “We will impose heavy penalty on the contractor for the delay,” the official said, pointing out that so far only 40 per cent of the total work has been completed even though the construction of the four-lane flyover began in February 2011. “We have fixed a new deadline of September 2014 for the contractor to complete the work,” the official said.

As for as the delay in laying the service roads is co­n­cerned, sources said th­at Ma­dhavaram side of the se­rvice road would be co­m­pleted by next month end while the Perambur si­de road would laid by Ja­nuary 2014. The flyover at the GNT Road and Ma­dh­a­v­aram High Road in­t­er­s­e­ction would sm­o­o­t­h­en flow of traffic in the area, as it witnesses heavy movement of traffic, particularly lorries and containers.

The work on the Rs 80.68 crore Vyasarpadi road ov­er­ b­ridge to replace existing vehicular subway be­g­an in 2010 under the hig­h­w­a­ys department and Sou­t­hern Railway, and was aimed at facilitating the smooth flow of vehicles on GNT Road. The Y shaped RoB takes off on Basin Br­idge Road and one of the arms lands at GNT road and the other at Sath­ya­m­u­rthy Nagar main road. “The delay in shifting of drinking water pipeline has resulted in works delay,” a senior highways department official said.

K. Subramani, a resident of Red Hills, said that GNT road is an arterial road connecting Chennai with Kolkata via Andhra Pra­desh and Odhisha. “The road is not free even during night hours as movement of trucks and containers towards and from Chennai Port is heavy. The completion of the bridge and flyover works will ease traffic on this busy road,” he said.