TNRDC laying bypass road to avoid Kelambakkam on OMR

TNRDC laying bypass road to avoid Kelambakkam on OMR

Oppili.P@timesgroup.com

Chennai:  31.12.2020

The six-lane stretch of Rajiv Gandhi Expressway (OMR) near Padur is scheduled to be connected to East Coast Road near Kovalam by June 2021, bypassing Kelambakkam.

Motorists using OMR to reach Tiruporur or Mamallapuram can take this road to avoid congestion. The 4.67-km-long bypass road, also six-lane, is being laid by the Tamil Nadu Road Development Corporation (TNRDC) and is expected to come as a boon to residents of areas along OMR, Mamallapuram and Thiruporur Residents living along the OMR from Siruseri to Kelambakkam and Tirupporur will be benefited by this road. At Kelambakkam, a TNRDC official said, OMR is a narrow stretch where movement of vehicles is paralysed every day and lines of stranded vehicles stretch for long distances on either side. There are no police or other enforcing agencies to regulate traffic on the stretch, he said.

Since the stretch along Kelambakkam village cannot be widened because the area had already been developed, work on laying the six-lane bypass was taken up, said the official.

Work on nearly 60% of the stretch is complete, while acquiring land along the remaining 40% which is home to several central government salt pans has become an issue that is slightly delaying the process, he said, adding that the problem is being sorted out. A lot of development activities have already begun in areas beyond Kelambakkam, he sais.

Hari Saravanan, a resident of Kelambakkam, said that the road will be a big relief for motorists heading to Mamallapuram. Once the road is ready, the flow of traffic will be smooth, he added.

Several other residents said laying a bypass had been a long-standing demand. Commuting on the stretch had become an ordeal and traffic snarls and incidents of road rage had become common. Repeated complaints to the authorities concerned had fallen on deaf ears for a long time before the TNRDC had taken up the project.

FOR SMOOTH CONNECTIVITY: The bypass road being laid