Six-lane bypass work over, motorists can now avoid thiruporur junction in chennai

CHENNAI: Guaranteeing huge relief to residents along Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) from the persistent traffic congestion, the laying of the 7.45 km six-lane bypass at Thiruporur Junction has

been completed. The project, which began in 2018, took nearly six years to finish due to issues with land acquisition and the pandemic-induced lockdown. Another bypass at Kelambakkam is

expected to be completed in another few months. In addition to allowing those travelling on OMR to skip the Thiruporur Junction, the new bypass allows motorists from OMR and neighbouring

areas to enter the parallel East Coast Road (towards Puducherry) through Thiruporur-Nemmeli road without having to navigate the traffic at Thiruporur Junction. Officials from the Tamil Nadu

Road Development Company (TNRDC), which maintains OMR, stated that 98% of the civil work for the new bypass road has been completed. “Motorists have been using the bypass road even before

the work was completed. Now, the carriageway has been developed for the entire stretch,” an official said. As part of widening the 25-km IT Expressway from Siruseri to Mamallapuram into six

lanes, two six-lane bypasses were proposed at Thiruporur and Kelambakkam under the Tamil Nadu Investment Promotion Programme (TNIPP) phase II. In the first stage, TNRDC began construction of

the two bypasses in 2018 at a cost of Rs 247 crore, and expected to complete the work by 2020. However, the work got delayed due to issues in acquiring a small portion of the salt pan

through which the roads were proposed to pass. While the Thiruporur bypass, connecting Kalavakkam village with Thandalam on OMR, skipping Thiruporur Junction, has been completed, the

construction of the Kelambakkam bypass, which also began in 2018, has not been completed due to land acquisition issues. KELAMBAKKAM BYPASS TO BE READY IN FEW MTHS The bypass, starting at

Pudur on OMR and ending at Thaiyur village, covers 4.67 km. “Funds allocated for acquiring the salt pan have been utilised. The road works will be completed in a few months,” an official

said