The Hindu 18.09.2009
3 more foot overbridges proposed
Staff Reporter
| One will be on Durgabai Deshmukh Road; two near upcoming Assembly complex |
— Photo: R.Ragu 
APACE: Work on a lift in progress at the FOB on Nungambakkam High Road.
CHENNAI: Three foot overbridges with lifts, including one on Durgabai Deshmukh Road in R.A. Puram, will be installed by the Chennai Corporation. The other two will come up near the new Legislative Assembly complex.
An official of the civic body said traffic studies for the two facilities near the upcoming Assembly complex had been completed.
For the foot overbridge in R.A. Puram, near Andhra Mahila Sabha and Dr. MGR Janaki College for Women, the traffic study and designing is in the offing. Hundreds of people now have to wait for several minutes before they cross the road. The problem is compounded if police personnel are not available to regulate the traffic.
Speaking to mediapersons after inaugurating the construction of a foot overbridge on Taluk Office Road in Saidapet on Thursday, Mayor M. Subramanian said work on three facilities would begin in about a month.
The foot overbridge coming up in Saidapet’s Little Mount, at a cost of Rs.89 lakh, is expected to be completed by January. The cost of civil works would be Rs.30 lakh and for the lifts it would be Rs.59 lakh. It would have staircase and lifts on either side. The length of the bridge would be 30.50 metre.
Residents of the area have been demanding facilities for pedestrian safety after Taluk Office Road and stretches of Sardar Patel Road and Anna Salai were made one-way two years ago. This would be second such facility in the city.
Meanwhile, provision of lifts to the existing foot overbridge on Nungambakkam High Road at a cost of Rs.59 lakh is nearing completion. The trial run would be held in a week. Civil work has been completed and granite tiles are fixed. The steel structure of the foot overbridge had been retained and minor repairs would be carried out.