Chennai: Commuters’ long wait for a seamless travel to Poonamallee from different parts of the city without any traffic snarls is expected to be reality very soon with the highways department set to inaugurate the much-awaited flyover in Porur on May 31.
The flyover, which missed several deadlines and saw huge cost escalation, will ease traffic in Porur from three different directions – those traveling from Guindy, Vadapalani and from Kundrathur. Initiated at a cost of Rs 15 crore during the 2006-2011 DMK regime, work on the flyover came to a standstill in mid-2011 after the AIADMK government led by late J. Jayalalithaa came to power till it was revived in 2015 after the worst-ever floods hit the metropolis.
“The flyover will be inaugurated, most likely, on May 31,” a senior highways department official told Deccan Chronicle. In the past eight years since work on the project began, crossing the Porur signal, where the flyover is coming up, was a nightmare since it would take even an hour during peak hours to cross the area.
Though mofussil buses from Vellore, Tirupati, Bangalore, Tiruvallur, Tiruttani, Hosur, Krishnagiri and Kancheepuram were diverted on Poonamalle high road, traffic near Porur signal did not ease, causing severe inconvenience to the commuters.
The completion of 475-meter long and 17.2 met-er wide flyover is good news for all motorists passing through Porur intersection.
“After 4pm, all the four paths connected to this area including Trunk Road, Arcot Road, Kundrathur Road and Poonamallee highroad get choked with vehicles and pedestrians struggling to cross the road. The opening of the flyover will help ease the traffic, especially during peak hours,” says Senthil Ku-mar, an auto driver.
S. Parthiv, who usually travels from Mugalivakkam to Porur, says the flyover would reduce his travel time to just five minutes from the current 20 minutes once the flyover is thrown open to traffic.
Most importantly, the ambulance drivers will heave a sigh of relief as they often get struck in the traffic with panicking family members urging them to drive fast. P Kamal, a resident of Porur, said since many big hospitals are located on the stretch, many ambulances zip through the highway. “Sometimes it even takes more than 40 minutes just to cross the stretch,” an ambulance driver said.
No parking on road
With the flyover set to open, authorities have issued orders to all the shops nearby restricting parking vehicles on the road.
“The vehicles can only be parked on elevated platforms and can no longer be left on the road. The officials said that a tow away van will constantly be there in the area,” said Hassan Abdul Kadar, owner of a hardware shop near the flyover.
Residents want shifting of bus stop
Residents of Porur have demanded shifting of the bus stop on the Poonamallee side located right after the bus stop. “After the flyover is opened for the public, the bus stop will lead to traffic jams as the vehicles in the service lane and people waiting in the bus stops will leave no space for anything else,” says P. Kalpana.
