Roads in N Chennai turn bottlenecks as expansion projects get shelved

NHAI shelves 10.3 km Madhavaram Cholavaram NH widening, citing lack of state support

- B ANBUSELVAN Chennai

THE 10.3-km Madhavaram Cholavaram NH stretch handles a daily traffic volume of 80,000 to 95,000 passenger cars, qualifying it for a 10-lane highway under Indian Roads Congress guidelines. However, owing to land acquisition issues and traders' opposition, it remains as a four-lane stretch, causing severe hardship to commuters for over a decade.

Similarly, the 22-km stretch between Padi and Thiruninravur, where six-laning was dropped in 2012 due to traders' opposition, has become a major traffic bottleneck for vehicles heading to Tirupati and for freight movement to Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Not to mention, the earlier plan to widen the MadhavaramNallur toll plaza section to six lanes was abandoned in 2013 following strong opposition from local traders. A subsequent proposal to construct a 10.2 km six-lane elevated corridor covering the entire stretch has remained indefinitely postponed.