KCBT-Chettipunniyam 18-km elevated stretch to ease congestion on GST road

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu governments approval of the Airport-Kilambakkam metro line last week has cleared the way for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to commence construction of the long-pending six-lane elevated corridor on the Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road. The 18.4 km elevated stretch, extending from the Kilambakkam bus terminus (KCBT) to Chettipunniyam near the Mahindra City junction, will be built erecting pillars in the central median of GST road. The stretch will include entry and exit ramps at three locations. The project cost is estimated to cost Rs 3,200 crore. The Tambaram-Chengalpattu section of GST remains one of the busiest highways in the country throughout the year. During festival days and extended holidays, the section witnesses huge pile-ups stretching up to 3-4 km in both directions. In 2018, the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry proposed a 30km elevated road from Tambaram to Chengalpattu. However, due to feasibility, traffic, and alignment issues, the project was scaled down to 18.4 km. Official sources said NHAI finalised the detailed project report (DPR) a few months back, but has not yet called for tenders, as the proposed metro line between the airport and Kilambakkam has to be integrated with the entry and exit ramps of the corridor. Last week, the state government gave its final nod for extending the metro line from Chennai Airport to KCBT. To facilitate construction on the busy stretch, NHAI widened an 18.5 km stretch of the four-lane GST road into an eight-lane highway from Vandalur to Chettipunniyam in 2024. The width of the GST road ranges from 35-45m. As per the official documents, the section carries over 75,000 passenger cars per day. For construction purposes, one lane on either side will be utilised, but commuters will still have a six-lane carriageway for smooth traffic flow, said an official. NHAI has also taken up widening of a four-lane 2.4-km stretch of GST Road to eight-lanes, between the Tambaram road overbridge (RoB) and Perungalathur. At present, heavy traffic congestion occurs at the Irumbuliyur junction, where vehicles from the Chennai Bypass converge, as the road width narrows drastically from 35m to 11m. An NHAI official noted, The widening of Tambaram RoB on the Tambaram-Perungalathur section is complete. Work on the adjoining stretch towards the Chennai Bypass/Tambaram is in progress and is expected to be completed within a month. S Ramalingam, a resident of Old Perungalathur, said, Since the mofussil bus terminus was shifted to Kilambakkam, congestion on GST Road has increased significantly in recent months. While the road widening has eased peak-hour traffic between Tambaram and Chettipunniyam, the overall congestion has not reduced much. The corridor should have been constructed much earlier. Another regular commuter from Villupuram, S Ranjith Kumar said, On the weekend preceding the Onam festival, the stretch from Tambaram to KCBT was heavily choked. It took nearly 70 minutes to travel from Tambaram to Chengalpattu.