Urban News

Chennai, July 28: Decks have been cleared for the construction of two new pedestrian subways along Anna Salai at Eldams road junction and TVS bus stop.

They are among the three-dozen subways proposed by the state highways department along the Anna Salai, Inner Ring Road and EVR Periyar Salai which got delayed because of the confusion over the alignment of the Metro Rail.

“With the commencement of the Metro Rail works, we have decided to take up the long pending subway works in a phased manner,” a senior highway official said.

The Metro Rail has given clearance for the two subways and after the completion of the detailed project reports, the highways department will call for the tenders and the works will begin subsequently.

“We are also awaiting clearance for constructing a subway at Evening Bazaar Road junction along EVR Periyar Salai,” said the official.

“Work on all the three subways would be taken up this year.”

According to a study, around 1.58 lakh cars pass through Anna Salai every day though it can handle only 60,000 cars per day.

With the ever-increasing traffic density, pedestrians have to face lot of hardship to cross the roads particularly during peak hours.

“We are taking steps to alleviate the problems faced by pedestrians through these subways” the highway official said. “We also asked the Metro Rail to clear subways at Little Mount (near AG Church), TNPL office and MKN road junction along Anna Salai in Guindy.”

He added that the department also wanted to construct a major pedestrian subway at Kathipara junction connecting all the four legs.