With an aim to strengthen the infrastructure in the western part of Chennai, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has approved the construction of a six-lane elevated corridor from Poonamallee to Madhuravoyal. This corridor will provide easy and smooth entry to vehicles coming from Bengaluru, Krishnagiri and Vellore.
The NHAI has issued tenders for this project on Tuesday. The estimated cost of this 8.1 km long flyover is ₹1,250 crore. This elevated corridor will provide entry and exit facility only at the beginning and end, there will be no ramp in the middle and toll will be charged on it.
I.S. Janakumaran, Project Director of NHAI in Chennai, informed that the work will start in three months and the target is to complete it in two and a half years. He said that about 90,000 vehicles ply on this section every day. The cost bearing process has not been finalized, but he confirmed that pile and pier work will start on one lane on each side of the road. He also said that despite the construction, a total of 10 lanes (including service lanes) will be available on the road and there will be no impact on traffic.
This corridor will make travel much faster. In future, commuters will be able to cover the 22 km distance in less than 20 minutes when it is connected to another 13 km corridor connecting Outer Ring Road and Sriperumbudur. Currently, this journey takes about an hour, especially due to traffic at congested places like Poonamallee, Mangadu, Thiruverkadu and Vanagaram.
Janakumaran said that Chennai Port will also benefit from this, as the project will help speed up cargo movement, allowing the port to better utilize its 135 MTPA cargo capacity.
At the same time, local people have given some suggestions regarding this project. S. Lazar of Aishwarya Nagar RWA, Nolambur said that during the construction, people will depend more on the service lanes, so their condition should be improved. He termed the three-year construction period as excessive and suggested that the NHAI should expedite the work and also build a parallel expressway up to Sriperumbudur so that people can avail the benefits immediately once the Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway opens.
Meanwhile, the NHAI is also constructing a four-lane Thiruvarur bypass, 14.936 km long and costing ₹796 crore, on the Nagapattinam-Thanjavur section of NH 83, which will be built under the hybrid annuity model.
Besides, an 84 km stretch of National Expressway-7 (NE7) in Bengaluru has been completed. Work is in progress in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and is likely to be completed by the end of 2026.
