CHENNAI: After years of proposals and changes in alignment, the state Highways Department has floated a tender to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for a 4 km elevated corridor from Light House to Thiru Vi Ka Bridge in Adyar, with the TVK government exploring a route along the existing road to ease congestion in south Chennai.

The consultancy contract has been estimated at Rs 38.10 lakh, with the selected firm required to complete the exercise in two months.

The proposed alignment passes through Pattinapakkam, where the TVK government has proposed to construct a new Secretariat. However, following opposition from the local fishing community to the Secretariat project, there is no clarity on whether the proposed site has been dropped. The status of the Secretariat proposal could have a bearing on planning for the elevated corridor.

The latest proposal follows an announcement by Highways and PWD minister Aadhav Arjuna in the Assembly on August 18, citing persistent congestion along Santhome High Road, which connects Marina, Santhome, Raja Annamalaipuram and Adyar.

The minister had announced that a DPR would initially be prepared at an estimated cost of Rs 30 lakh. The latest tender pegs the consultancy contract at Rs 38.10 lakh.

The study will assess the corridor's engineering and economic feasibility and identify a suitable alignment. It will also examine the need to extend an existing underpass, improve junctions and develop service roads. Traffic and pedestrian surveys, soil investigations, drainage studies and mapping of underground utilities will be part of the exercise. The consultant will prepare designs, cost estimates and a plan identifying land requirements and properties that could be affected.

The project has a chequered history. The DMK government proposed an elevated road from Light House to ECR near Kotivakkam via Loop Road and Broken Bridge in 2007, but the plan was eventually dropped by the subsequent AIADMK regime in

In July 2019, then chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced an elevated corridor from Light House to Greams Road via Santhome High Road.

In 2024, the DMK revived the proposal, this time exploring an alignment through the sea.