Chennai’s OMR, Radial Road set for integrated mobility makeover

CHENNAI: The arterial Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) and Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road are in for a makeover to transform them into model urban mobility corridors, with the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) planning a major redesign to integrate road, bus, and Metro Rail connectivity.

The authority has invited a tender to prepare a detailed project report for transforming 32.4 km of the two stretches, and the improvement works will subsequently be executed by the State Highways Department.

The project covers 25 km of OMR (Rajiv Gandhi Salai, or IT Corridor as it is popularly known) from Madhya Kailash to Kelambakkam, and 7.4 km of Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road from Pallavaram bridge to Thoraipakkam junction.

A major focus of the OMR plan will be integration with the Metro Rail network. The corridor design will take into account proposed Metro Rail alignments and stations, with CUMTA asking the consultant to work with Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) to ensure safe and convenient transfers between Metro stations and buses, intermediate public transport, cycling, and walking.

The plan envisages developing areas around Metro stations as multimodal hubs, with safe pedestrian access, bus connections, cycling facilities, and last-mile connectivity. The road design will also identify opportunities to improve access to stations and provide seamless transfers between different modes.

CUMTA member-secretary I Jeyakumar told DT Next that the authority plans to take up the OMR Metro Rail integration corridor works at the earliest so that they can be executed and inaugurated along with the ongoing Metro works. If the schedule goes as planned, the DPR would be ready by January next year and the Highways Department could award the work contract in June 2027.

"The Highways Department will be able to execute the works along with the ongoing Metro Rail works and complete them in a year's time when CMRL is expected to commence operations," he said.

Public transport to be priority focus in OMR, PTR transformation plan

The project will also examine public transport priority on OMR and Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Road (PTR). The plan includes exclusive bus lanes, bus-priority stretches and properly designed bus bays. On Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Road, bus priority could range from bus-only lanes during specific hours, enforced through digital monitoring, to physically segregated lanes, depending on traffic volumes at different times of the day.

CUMTA has asked the consultant to coordinate with the Metropolitan Transport Corporation and the Transport Department on their plans for BRTS and dedicated bus lanes along the corridors, while coordinating with CMRL on proposed Metro Rail alignments and stations.

Jeyakumar said PTR has sufficient right of way to accommodate a BRTS or bus-priority corridor. "The Chief Minister has envisaged interest in implementing BRTS in the city. This road is wide enough to accommodate it and can be a model," he said.

The proposed makeover will go beyond conventional road widening, as the proposal includes uniform carriageways, green medians, service lanes, safer intersections, traffic-calming measures, pedestrian crossings, refuge islands, footpaths, and cycling facilities.

The corridors will also have planned underground utility infrastructure for electricity, telecom, water, gas, and sewer lines, besides improved stormwater drainage and recharge facilities.

Road safety will be another key component, with provisions for safer junctions, street lighting, signs, pedestrian crossings, and grade-separated facilities such as foot-over bridges and skywalks wherever required.

Landscaping, shaded walking spaces, public amenities, and safer pedestrian facilities are also proposed, with the design expected to address the needs of women, children, elderly people, and persons with disabilities.