Reducing traffic congestion: Tambaram railway ROB to be extended to link Shanmugam and GST roads

Reducing traffic congestion: Tambaram railway ROB to be extended to link Shanmugam and GST roads

At the Shanmugam Road-GST intersection, there is a fruit and flower market, the Tambaram pedestrian subway and Foot Over Bridge.

Published: 13th December 2021 04:25 AM 

By B Anbuselvan

Express News Service

CHENNAI: A decade after being built, one arm of the railway Road Over Bridge (ROB) at Tambaram on Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road is set be extended, to link Shanmugam Road with GST. A government order sanctioning Rs 30 lakh for preparing detailed project report was issued recently by the State Highways Department.

The ROB was opened in February 2011 replacing the level crossing near Tambaram railway station. It connects Velachery Main Road, GST and Mudichur Road. The ROB has four arms on GST (two each towards Guindy and Chengalpattu) and one each on Mudichur Road and Velachery Main Road.

The ROB’s ramp that extends towards Guindy ends at the intersection of Shanmugam Road and GST. The portion is 0.6 metre high from the road level. As a result, motorists from Perungalathur are forced to take a detour via Rajaji Road which is 100 metre away from the joining point of Shanmugam Road and GST, to enter Shanmugam Road and other parts of Tambaram. The detour leads to huge vehicular pile up in both directions of GST.

The linking of Shanmugam Road with GST has been one of the long-pending demands of Tambaram locals and traders. At the Shanmugam Road-GST intersection, there is a fruit and flower market, the Tambaram pedestrian subway and Foot Over Bridge.

According to official sources, the project has two components. The width of the pedestrian subway’s entry and exit points need to be widened to 10 metres. Secondly, the ramp of the ROB towards Guindy on GST Road should be extended further so as to facilitate direct passing of vehicles from GST to Shanmugam Road.

“We are yet to assess the quantum of land required for extending the ramp and widening the subway. We are yet to assess the number of buildings that need to be demolished for the project. The DPR is being prepared,” said a State highways official.

A section of traders and locals with whom TNIE interacted claimed that, when the proposal for ROB was first made in early 2008, the ramp of the Guindy arm was to be 30 to 40 metres longer than the present one.

“The highways department initially planned to link GST with Shanmugam Road. But the proposal required land parcels at the intersections and a group of influential traders strongly resisted any moves to demolish their buildings. So the project was altered. Now, more than a decade later, the government is once again planning to link the roads,” said a resident of West Tambaram.