Foot over bridge with escalator to come up near VR Mall

CHENNAI: The State Highway Department has proposed to construct a foot over bridge (FOB) with escalators at Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) near VR Mall on Inner Ring Road at Anna Nagar.

The proposed FOB consists of a 5-metre-wide walkway across the carriageway along with 2-metre-wide stairs, escalators and lifts on either side of the carriageway. It’d be built at a cost of Rs 10.13 crore. The highway department has invited bids to construct the FOB.

The need for a FOB arises as there’s heavy traffic at the location throughout the day, due to its vicinity to CMBT and the Koyambedu Market.

“The Tirumangalam junction is around 300 metres from the project location. There’s a Grade Separator at the junction but the Centre Median along the stretch goes on for 1.2 km without any opening and has no pedestrian crossing. Due to this, vehicles are plying at higher speeds,” explained an official with the highways department. “KV is located inside CPWD Housing Quarters. Kids and parents are forced to take a long detour around the Koyambedu flyover to reach there. To avoid this, kids jump over the median to cross the road at the junction. Also, people visiting the mall tend to cross the road. All this leads to accidents.”

The official added that there are at least 5 non-reported accidents happening near school daily. “The public, local bodies, NGOs, traffic police and people’s representatives asked for a FOB. Also, the project location is at the take-off point of the Grade separator. An at-grade pedestrian crossing is not feasible. So, a FOB with stairs, escalators and lifts is proposed,” the official said, noting that the Madras HC in 2019 ordered on a writ petition to construct a FOB on the location.