NHAI unveils ₹420-cr road widening in TN

NHAI has decided to widen the existing Maduravoyal to Sriperumbudur four lanes stretch into six to eight lanes involving an investment of ₹420 crore. The project aims at ensuring smooth flow of vehicular traffic as the arterial stretch, on average, witnesses a traffic flow of over two lakh passenger cars per day. The existing four-lane road and service lanes in some parts of the stretch has become inadequate to handle the ever-increasing heavy vehicles traffic volume leading to slow movement of vehicles. The widening works include service roads on either side of the highway along with stormwater drains on both sides. NHAI has invited bids for the works, which once started, will remove minor encroachments along the stretch. There is no need for land acquisition for the six-laning as the highway has 60 metres right of way to lay even an eight-lane road. In fact, NHAI proposed to construct an elevated road from Maduravoyal to Sriperumbudur to ease traffic congestion in the stretch dotted with industries and educational institutions as part of the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway project. NHAI has invited bids for all the stretches from Bengaluru to Chennai via Chittoor but the elevated road work could be taken up only after the widening of the existing main carriageway.