Chennai-Tada road to be upgraded

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, JUNE 6. A Rs. 185-crore project to upgrade the Chennai- Tada section of National Highways-5 was launched by the Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Maj. Gen. (Retd.) B.C. Khanduri, on Wednesday.

Part of the national programme to link four major metropolitan cities, the project envisages a four-lane divided highway with a carriageway of 7 metres. The road runs through Thiruvallur district.

As per the 2001 traffic census, about 8,300 vehicles are plying on this stretch daily. In 20 years, the figure may go up to about 33,000 vehicles.

Though now planned for a four-lane traffic, the scheme also provides for converting the NH into six lanes in 15 years, and it has been drafted in such a way that improvements can be made easily with minimum land acquisition and discomfort to the travelling public.

A four-km by-pass for Karanodai, on the fringes of Chennai, will be laid to relieve congestion.

Four major bridges, eight minor ones and 78 culverts have been proposed under this project.

For bus passengers, shelters will be built at 52 points. To compensate for the loss of nearly 4,700 avenue trees which will be cut for widening of the road, 30,000 trees will be raised on either side, as well as along the median.

At a function held to mark laying of the foundationstone, an agreement was signed by Mr. Deepak Das Gupta, NHAI chairman, and Mr. J. Ganguly, vice-president (transportation projects) of Larsen & Toubro, executing agency for strengthening the Chennai- Tada section of NH-5.

Answering a query on the status of a proposal to carry out four- laning of the Tindivanam-Madurai stretch of NH-45, Mr. Das Gupta said the plan was to have one portion of the NH under BOT and another by the Authority itself.

Among those present on the occasion were Mr. M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union Rural Development Minister, Mr. C.Kuppusamy and Mr. A. Krishnasamy, MPs, and Mr. T.S. Sridhar, State Highways Secretary.

Later, Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Khanduri and Mr. Naidu left for Nellore.

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Section  : Southern States
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