CHENNAI: Around 25 per cent of the eight-laning of the Grand Southern Trunk (GST) road’s 13.5-km stretch between Guduvanchery and Chettipunniyam (Mahindra City) has been completed, said sources in the National Highways wing of the State government. The work began in November last.
Widening of the four-lane GST road (Tambaram-Tiruchy NH) from four to eight lanes was necessitated to facilitate the proposed construction of elevated corridor from Tambaram and Chengalpattu.
An official from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said if the road wasn’t widened, the elevated corridor work would make it narrower. “Given that the road handles over one lakh vehicles a day, it was necessary to widen it before taking up the elevated road project,” the official said.
The carriageways on both sides of GST road between Tambaram and Chengalpattu are divided by a median of about 2.5-5 m.
The width of the road is 35-45 m. Laying two more lanes on either side is expected to create space for the passage of about 10,000 vehicles a day, thereby reducing traffic snarls, when speeds at entry points to the GST road fall to just 25-30 km per hr.
For widening of the GST road from Vandalur to Chettipunniyam, the NHAI transferred Rs 275.17 crore to the NH wing of the government. In the first phase, the 5.3-km Vandalur-Guduvancheri section of the GST road was widened into six/eight-lane by reducing the width of the median and merging the main carriageway with service lane at several places.
Official sources said the widening of the 13.5-km stretch between Guduvanchery and Chettipunniyam will be taken up in three stages – Guduvanchery-Maraimalai Nagar; Maraimalai Nagar-Singaperumal Koil; and SP Koil-Chettipunniyam.
The three-km section from Guduvanchery to Kattankulathur has been widened into a six-lane road and works to construct a stormwater drain is on.
“While majority of the road is to be widened using space from the median, encroachments are being removed at Kattankulathur, Guduvanchery, Potheri, Thailavaram, and Vellanchery. At a few places, widening entails land acquisition,” said a NHAI official.
To provide an alternative route to the GST road from OMR, NHAI has proposed widening the Thiruporur-Chengalpattu two-lane into four-lane, added an official
Source: https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2022/may/11/eight-laning-work-at-guduvanchery-chettipuniyam-stretch-of-chennaisgst-roadgains-pace-2452136.html
