The Hindu                  06.05.2013

Five years down, subway is almost done

Work on Rs. 15.75-crore Monegar Choultry subway will be completed in a month.

The Monegar Choultry vehicular subway, work on which began nearly five years ago, is likely to be completed in a month.

Curing
of the cement concrete road is on at the Rs. 15.75-crore project in
north Chennai. The water is being made to stand to cure the concrete, a
process that will take another two weeks. The work will bring great
relief to residents of North Chennai who have been looking forward to
the relief it would bring from traffic tangles.

“Some
very minor works including laying of 70 m of service road and 45 m of
top slab covering the stormwater drains are to be completed. These works
are expected to be over in a month’s time and the facility will be
ready for opening,” said a source in the Chennai Corporation, which
began constructing the subway in April 2008 in association with Southern
Railway.

Already, pedestrians in the area that is in
the vicinity of Stanley Hospital and MC Road clothes wholesale and
retail market, are wading through the water to reach their destination
on either side of the 2.6 km-long Monegar Choultry Road, which connects
Old Jail Road and Gollavar Agraharam Road in Old Washermenpet. “They
should take the service lanes, which are completed and take the
staircase instead of walking through the water,” said an official.

The
four 600-m-long service lanes and the 359-m-long subway have cement
concrete surfaces which will ensure greater longevity. “Otherwise, they
will get spoilt every monsoon. The move will also prevent water
seepage,” explained an engineer with the Corporation.

The
civic body had set several deadlines for completion of the work. The
work order was issued in January 2008 and work began in April that year.
The central portion of the subway was built by the Railways and the
approaches by the Chennai Corporation. In February 2011, the Corporation
set a deadline of April 2011, which was later pushed to July. The
Railways completed its work only in January this year after which the
civic body speeded up work on stormwater drains and service lanes.

K.
Saravanakumar, who works in Burma Bazaar and lives on Manikandan Street
that is perpendicular to Monegar Choultry Road, said his commute from
work would come down by nearly two kilometres. “We have been waiting
since 2008 for the work to be completed. We hope the corporation will
stick to its present deadline,” he said.

J.A.
Nemichand of Ullaramman Koil Street said that once the subway is opened
for traffic, policemen should be appointed for traffic regulation on
either side. “Signals should also be installed. This is a very busy area
and a lot of pedestrian movement takes place. Metro Rail work is
proceeding on the road leading from Mint to Broadway, which makes it all
the more necessary to have traffic regulation,” he added.