Foot-over bridge to come up near AG Church at Chinnamalai

CHENNAI: In a relief to pedestrians crossing the Anna Salai-Chinnamalai junction, the State highways department has proposed constructing a foot-over bridge (FOB) near AG Church at Chinnamalai and linking an existing FOB on Taluk Office Road with escalators, lifts and ramps for disabled-abled.

The proposed foot-over bridge would replace the existing pedestrian crossing near AG Church which is an important strategic location connecting Adyar, Guindy, Saidapet and Little Mount Metro Station.

The highways department has floated a tender to appoint a consultant to prepare a detailed project report for the same.

“Many commuters cross this road and a traffic signal exist between Pier 18 and 19 of the metro rail structure. Another FOB is located about 100 m away from the proposed one.

Existing FOB is not properly utilised by commuters and pedestrians. To overcome the issue, the new FOB is proposed to link with the existing one and reconstruct the existing FOB with escalators and stairs to make it user-friendly and maximise pedestrian usage,” the highways department official said.

The official said that the FOB with escalators will be very useful for the people from Anna Salai who need to access the bus stop and Metropolitan Magistrate court on Taluk Office Road. It will be disabled-abled friendly with ramps for lifts to climb up and down the FOB.

“For ensuring the safety of both pedestrian and vehicle users, it is very essential to provide a FOB at this location,” the official added.

The proposed FOB would replace the proposal for a pedestrian subway planned at that location.

The Highways department had initially proposed a pedestrian subway at Chinnamalai and had even invited tenders for the construction of the same. But the subway proposal did not take off with the contractors not showing interest in the project.

“Unlike the construction of the subway which requires shifting of utilities, the FOB with escalator facilities would be constructed without such hurdles,” the official said.