The Hindu 27.11.2013
Mint grade separator, M.C. Road subway ready for use
Twin key infrastructure projects in the northern
neighbourhood will see the light of day as the Rs. 19.2-crore grade
separator at Mint Junction and the Rs 15.75-crore vehicular subway on
Monegar Choultry (M.C.) Road in Old Washermenpet are ready for use.
On
Tuesday, for the first time, vehicles including Metropolitan Transport
Corporation buses were allowed beneath the new grade separator on a
pilot basis.
Chennai Corporation officials were
observing traffic patterns, and will finalise a regular route for
motorists using the grade separator once the facility is formally
opened.
“Finishing touches are being given to the
twin projects. We will request the Chief Minister to inaugurate them,”
said Mayor, Saidai Duraisamy.
Sanctioned in July
2009, the four-lane grade separator is 550 metres long and 15 metres
wide and will connect Old Jail Road and Basin Bridge Road at Mint
junction in Old Washermanpet. The junction connects important areas
including Royapuram, Kodungaiyur, Pulianthope, and Washermenpet.
Funded
by its own resources, the Corporation entrusted the design,
engineering, procurement of materials and construction model of the
four-lane flyover to Hyderabad based infrastructure development firm,
IVRCL.
A large number of residents around Mint and Basin Bridge Road will benefit from the project.
“The
grade separator will help container lorries from the Kolkota Highway, a
national highway, reach Chennai Port faster, as they can avoid the
congested Ponnamallee High Road,” said Abdul Halem, a resident of Old
Washermenpet.
At present, service lanes on both sides
of the grade separator are being laid. Each bitumen-topped service lane
is around 600 metres long and six metres wide (enough for a bus and a
car together).
Street lights on the grade separator have also been installed. A final coat of paint is being given to the structure.
The
M.C. subway is also ready for inauguration, even as it waits for
pumping equipment to discharge excess rain water. The 2.6 km-long
vehicular subway will connect Old Jail Road and Gollavar Agraharam Road
in Old Washermenpet. More importantly, it will be lifeline for hundreds
of patients to get to Government Stanley Hospital safely.
Begun in April 2008, work on the 359-metre-long subway was jointly built by the Corporation and Southern Railway.