Motorists continue to face traffic snarls on Chennai-Tiruvallur highway
State highway department has widened the Padi to Thiruninravur stretch
By : g. jagannath
Update: 2014-08-28 05:49 GMT
Chennai: Motorists continue to be haunted by traffic congestions on Chennai-Tiruvallur highway (CTH) road, near Pattabiram, due to non-conversion of level-crossing 2 on Pattabiram military siding line into a railway over bridge (ROB). Though the state highway department has widened the Padi to Thiruninravur stretch of the CTH road into a four-lane facility, with a central median, the Pattabiram stretch of the road continues to face severe traffic snarls, lament motorists.
M. Thamil Selvan, an advocate, said the widening of the CTH road has reduced traffic congestion in most parts of the road, except near the level-crossing on Pattabiram military siding line. Besides goods trains, there are 34 EMU suburban train services between Central station and Pattabiram military siding railway station that cross the gate. “Every time a train passes the level-crossing, the gate will be shut and the road traffic piles up for nearly 20 to 30 minutes,” he said.
To ease the traffic movement, the state highways department has proposed to construct a ROB to replace the level-crossing, but the work was yet to be taken up, said Augustine Roy Rozario, general secretary of People’s Voice. He said the ROB work should be taken up at the earliest as the first phase of the Outer Ring Road, connecting Vandalur and Nemilicherry, is likely to be opened for traffic very shortly and traffic is expected to increase manifold on CTH road.
A senior state highways department official said a six-lane ROB would be constructed over the level-crossing as the CTH road would be widened to six lanes in the second phase. The official said preliminary work is on for taking up the ROB work. “Once land acquisition is over, the bids would be floated for the works,” he added.