Bids on for CMBT flyover
Highways department to build 1.09-km-long four grade separator
By : g. jagannath
Update: 2014-11-17 06:44 GMT
Chennai: In order to ease traffic congestion at the busy junctions on Jawaharlal Nehru Salai and Kaliamman Koil street in Koyambedu, the state highways department has invited bids for construction of a grade separator at a cost of Rs 55.27 crore.The highways department proposes to construct a 1.09-km-long, four-lane grade separator to decongest two busy junctions on Jawaharlal Nehru Salai – the main entrance of CMBT - and Kaliamman Koil street. The flyover will allow free flow of traffic from the Vadapalani and Anna Nagar sides. The flyover will take off near the state election commission office near CMBT main entrance and land beyond the Kaliamman Koil street junction.
Apart from constructing the grade separator along Jawaharlal Nehru Salai, the official said it is proposed to provide three U-turns below the grade separators to avoid right turn conflicts for vehicles entering the CMBT bus stand from the Anna Nagar side, from the bus stand to the Vadapalani side and from Kaliamman Koil street towards Vadapalani. “Once the contract is awarded, work will be completed in 33 months,” the official said.
The construction of the grade separator has become inevitable as the busy junction witnesses heavy flow of traffic all throughout the day with cars and two-wheelers fighting for space with buses entering and leaving CMBT in Koyambedu. During peak hours and weekends, motorists have to wait for at least half-an-hour to get past the junction.
According to highway sources, the junction on Jawaharlal Nehru Salai-Kaliamman Koil street witnesses traffic volume of nearly 1.4 lakh passenger car units (PCU) daily and nearly 9,214 PCU per hour which is expected to cross 10,000 PCU per hour with traffic growth at 7.5 per cent. “As per the Indian Road Congress rules, if the total traffic at the junctions from all arms exceeds 10,000 per hour, then such junctions shall be provided with a grade separator,” officials said.
Mr D. Sadagopan, a resident of Natesan Nagar, Virugambakkam, said traffic jams have become the order of day. “We hope that the flyover work will be taken up very soon along with the much-needed widening of Kaliamman Koil street,” he said, welcoming the move.