The Hindu 01.11.2010
Grade separator work yet to begin
| Design of the two facilities proposed on Anna Salai yet to be finalised |
Waiting for respite: One of the grade separators is to decongest traffic near the new Assembly complex. A scene near the Anna Salai-Wallajah Road junction.
CHENNAI: The construction of two grade separators on Anna Salai, which have been proposed to decongest traffic on the arterial road, has been delayed.
The design of the facilities is yet to be finalised, though the piling work was expected to begin by the end of August. The Highways Department had said that it was planning to complete the piling work before March 2011 to avoid any conflict with the tunnelling work for the Metro Rail project. As a result, officials of the Highways Department said the commencement of work for construction of Metro Rail network next year in the Anna Salai stretch is likely to be delayed by a few months.
Initially, the Highways Department would have to do the piling work by drawing Rs.100 crore from the Infrastructure and Amenities Fund of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, which was sanctioned sometime ago. But, the Government Order sanctioning the two projects is yet to be issued.
In June, the CMDA had decided to allocate Rs.385 crore, collected under the infrastructure and amenities charges, for the construction of the grade separators. The amount collected under the Infrastructure and Amenities charges has crossed Rs.450 crore in the Chennai Metropolitan Area. One of the grade separators spanning a length of 1.9 km from near the P.Orr & Sons showroom, opposite the new Assembly complex, to Popat Jamal, opposite Spencer Plaza, is estimated to cost Rs.161 crore.
The other grade separator, to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs.339 crore, would be 2.9 km long from Vaanavil showroom in Teynampet to the junction of CIT Nagar First Main Road near Saidapet.
