Tenders have been called for the construction of a four-lane wide bypass to Tiruvallur town.
The 17.52-km bypass will skip Thanneerkulam, Thozhur, Sevvapet and Veppampattu. It will start at Thirupachur and join the Chennai–Tirupati National Highway (NH 205) near a private steel company.
The road, which would have a median, would be constructed at a cost of ₹364.21 crore. Though work, including the construction of two bridges at Pattaraiputhur, which has been completed, and Narayanapuram (a few more days of work remains) as part of the strengthening project, land acquisition for the bypass took some time, said a source in the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
The project work is likely to commence by August and is scheduled to be completed in 24 months. “Tenders were floated a few days ago. It will take three months for the process to be completed and the concessionaires will need another three months to mobilise men and machinery. They will be given time to mobilise funds,” said an official.
As far as widening of the two-lane Chennai-Tirupati Highway is concerned, it would be taken up only in 2026 since the present road would get saturated only at that time, the officials said.
T. Sadagopan, consumer activist, said that if accidents were to be reduced on that road, it should be widened to six-lane width. “The NHAI should not wait for traffic volume to increase. It is an important link between the two temple towns of Tiruvallur and Tirupati,” he added.
