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Preliminary works begins on road along MRTS at Perungudi

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Courtesy : The Hindu Date : 02.06.2009

Preliminary work begins on road along MRTS at Perungudi

R. Srikanth

3-km Velachery-Taramani stretch will be completed in 6 months

— Photo: R.Srikanth

IMPROVING CONNECTIVITY: Survey of the area near the Perungudi MRTS station being conducted for a new road, on Monday.

CHENNAI: Southern Railway has started work on the road that will run parallel to the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) network from the Velachery to Taramani stations.

Starting close to the parking lot of the Velachery Station, the road will connect the New Veeranam Salai near the Taramani station. It is expected to meet the requirement of good road connectivity for MRTS users. The Taramani Link Road, which is the only major road link near the MRTS, is far away from the stations. The New Veeranam Salai connects Taramani Link Road and the Rajiv Gandhi Salai.

The upcoming 3-km long road will be a two-lane facility. From the Velachery station to Perungudi station, the road will come up on one side of the track and in the rest of the stretch up to Taramani Station on the other side. A road overbridge near the Perungudi station would connect the two stretches.

Chief Public Relations Officer of Southern Railway Neenu Ittyerah said work on the stretch between the Taramani and Perungudi stations has begun. On the portion connecting the Perungudi and Velachery stations, the work would begin shortly.

She said the Metropolitan Transport Project, which is developing the road, has planned to complete this project in six months. Any delay would be only on account of the time taken to remove encroachments by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority.

Former Anna University professor T. Ananatharajan, who had organised several seminars on multi-modal transport, was happy that the road was being laid. He said that while Southern Railway was taking steps to form a road along a part of the MRTS network, the Chennai Corporation has done little to improve the road from Taramani Link Road to the Perungudi station.

As a result, the station is underutilised because the road running through the thickly populated residential areas and the railway station was in bad shape and did not have proper street lighting.

Though the new road would ease traffic congestion on Taramani Link Road, residents are concerned that it would aggravate the problem of water stagnation during monsoon in the nearby residential areas.

S. Kumararaja, secretary, Federation of Velachery Residents Welfare Association, said with sand bars below the elevated tracks already blocking the free flow of the water to the Pallikaranai marshland, the new road would compound the problem. He wanted the railway authorities to provide stormwater drains on the road.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 02 June 2009 11:43