By sanctioning around ₹31 crore for land acquisition, the State government has paved the way for widening two important bottlenecks on the Velachery-Tambaram Road at Gowrivakkam and Selaiyur. The road at these two locations is only four-lanes wide and needs widening to prevent traffic jams.
The 16-km-long road is uniformly six-lanes wide excepting at these two locations and a 3 km stretch at Pallikaranai where the process of land acquisition is at an advanced stage. “The stretch is from Narayanapuram to a private textile showroom, and it has a curve too. The land plan schedule in which the types of lands and the ownerships of properties are identified, has been completed,” explained a source in the Highways Department.
An official said the widening work will be taken up soon. At the point where there is a lotus pond, the property on the opposite side would be acquired so that the pond is not affected in any manner. “The median would be slightly shifted for that small stretch of about 50 mt. Traffic flow would not be affected in any manner,” he said.
Vidyasagar Jagadeesan, a resident of Pallikaranai, who welcomed the widening, said the median on the flyover at the Kamakshi Hospital junction should be made continuous to avoid driving on the wrong side. “Traffic jams on that stretch have become common during rush hours. The traffic police, along with the Highways Department, could perhaps come up with some solution for the same. The roads in and around that junction too should be laid or patched up to prevent slowing down of vehicles, he suggested.
