Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday announced several measures to improve road infrastructure in the State to be implemented at a cost of Rs 1,733 crore. The projects included 131 river bridges to be constructed at a cost of `300 crore on panchayat union roads and 67 government roads for a stretch of 215 km to be laid at an expenditure of `100 crore.

The Chief Minister said, as per the request from the National Highways Authority of India, 22 km of road between Tirunindravur and Padi was handed over to it in 2005. Since there was no possibility for collecting toll in the stretch of road, it was not taken up for development under the National Highways Development Project. Considering the highly ruined state of this road at present, in an area where vehicular traffic is high, it would be taken up for improvement as an urban road and would be developed as a six-lane road at a cost of `168 crore. In the first phase, the stretch of road would be developed as a four-lane road at an expenditure of `98 crore.

Through the SIPCOT, land at Mappedu in Tiruvallur district has been given on lease for `126 crore to Chennai port for establishing a dry harbour. To facilitate easy flow of trucks, a link road from the dry harbour to NH-4 would be laid. For this purpose, the 39.40 km Padi Road near the Thandalam-Perambakkam-Thakkolam Road would be upgraded as a four-lane road.

The second phase of Thanjavur by-pass road would be taken up for implementation on Perambalur-Manamadurai highway till Manakkarambai for a stretch of 14.27 km from new Collectorate complex in Thanjavur on Nagapattinam-Gudalur-Mysore national highway, at a cost of `98 crore.

The Chief Minister also announced that Pochampalli-Kodamandapatti Road would laid at a cost of `8.68 crore to connect the SIPCOT complex in Bargur, in Krishnagiri district, with the nearby national highways. This would be useful for bringing in raw materials required for the industries in the SIPCOT complex and to transport manufactured goods to other parts of the country.

The road would be laid at a cost of `8.68 crore. Besides, a new road would laid to connect the SIPCOT complex from Pochampalli-Kodamandapatti Road at a cost of `3.22 crore.