CHENNAI: The State Highways Department will widen the existing road over bridge (ROB) near Padi on Jawaharlal Nehru Salai, also known as Inner Ring Road (IRR), into a dual five-lane bridge and also widen the narrow approach road towards Padi.
According to Highways officials, the existing three-lane ROB would be widened into five-lane on both sides. Also, the ROB’s approach road and small stretch would be widened into five lanes with a central median and pavements to ensure seamless movement of vehicles.
The entire project, including the widening of the ROB and approach road with road safety works, is proposed to be executed at an expense of Rs 101 crore.
The existing ROB near Padi on IRR lies between Villivakkam and Korattur railway station with three lanes on both sides.
The IRR is a five-lane road on either side of the centre median but a 1.1-km stretch from Padi junction and ROB narrows to a three-lane carriageway. On a small stretch near the Padi railway station from Villivakkam to Padi side, the road narrows to only two lanes, causing a traffic bottleneck and leading to accidents, said an official source.
“The road serves as an important route to Chennai city from other states and is located along the industrial corridor. Due to this, traffic has increased manifold in recent years and is causing traffic snarls at this stretch. Moreover, the existing curves on the Padi side beyond the approach of ROB make it prone to accidents due to sharp curves with no extra widening.
“Hence, it is necessary to widen the existing carriageway width to match with the existing carriageway of IRR to mitigate the issues of narrow and accident prone zone and ease traffic congestion,” the official said, adding that continuous footpath will be provided along the entire stretch to ease the pedestrian movement.
Railways would execute the ROB widening work with the cost borne by the Highways Department, while the rest of the works would be taken up by the department, the official added.