Work on key roads and a high level bridge in Vellore and Tirupattur districts have been speeded up to ensure easy connectivity and preparedness for the northeast monsoon.
Officials of the Department of State Highways, which executes the projects in these districts, said the new facilities were long standing demands of residents in the area. “Based on a detailed study that includes traffic flow, accident prone spots and total beneficial areas, key roads in these districts are being upgraded. Some of the road works have been completed, taking the northeast monsoon into account,” said an official of State Highways.
In Vellore, the existing two-lane stretch between the new airport and the Chennai - Bengaluru Highway, has been converted into four-lane due to expected increase in the flow of vehicles once the airport gets commissioned by the year-end. After widening, the 500-metre-long link road is now 15 metres wide with concrete median and tiled footpath. The work was done at a cost of ₹2.26 crore under Comprehensive Road Infrastructure Development Programme (CRIDP) 2021-22.
Similarly, the Ariyur - Pallikonda Main Road has also been taken up for four lane conversion at a cost of ₹9.95 crore, mainly due to the increase in the footfall to the golden temple at Sripuram near Vellore town. The golden temple is one of the major tourist attractions in Vellore. Of a total 8 km, 2.1 km of the stretch is being widened in the first phase of the work with concrete median, storm water drains, street lights and footpath. The widening of the stretch will also help prevent accidents, providing more road space for vehicles on the route. Around 70% of the work, including laying of widened carriageway, have been completed. A special team of officials led by R. Kothandaraman, Director, Highways Research Station (HRS), Chennai, inspected the ongoing works in Vellore and Tirupattur a few days ago. The team also included R.N. Dhanasekaran, P. Gnanavel and E. Murali - divisional engineers (DE) for Vellore, Tiruvannamalai and Tirupattur respectively, R. Prakash and K.R. Rajathi - Assistant DE for Vellore and Tirupattur.
The on-going work of a high-level bridge at the confluence of Palar and Mannar rivers will end years of ordeal of residents in at least 10 villages in Tirupattur. At present, residents from these villages that include Avarankuppam, Timmenpettai, Pullur, Kollapalli and Narayanapuram have to make a detour of at least 15 km via Amballur village to reach key towns like Vaniyambadi, Ambur and Jolarpet. “During emergencies, we reach the government hospital from the affected villages by crossing the rivers, risking our lives. The new bridge will end our ordeal,” said S. Pakkiammal, a resident.
Funded under CRIDP 2020-21 at a cost of ₹18.40 crore, the bridge will be 236 metres long, 12 metres wide with footpath, LED street lights and concrete median. Despite continuous waterflow in the rivers, more than 50% of the work has been completed. The work is being done by the Rural Road (RR) wing of the State Highways.
