Tiruvottiyur road widening project still in early stages

Traffic woes on the Tiruvottiyur High Road have been a constant headache for commuters. Measures for widening it into a four-lane road were taken up in 2006 after a two decade-long demand, but the slow pace of the project has left the commuters wondering if it would be finished.

The project was proposed six years ago at a budget of `11.5 crore and plans for land acquisition were put in place. “But there was opposition from several quarters, especially from certain traders’ unions, as many shops needed to be demolished to expand the road to 40 ft,” said R Jayaraman, former chairman of the Tiruvottiyur municipality.

But once the land acquisition was complete, the widening work did not start as scheduled. Electricity poles and transformers on either side of the five km stretch needed to be shifted. “We paid the EB around six crore in October 2010 to shift them. Out of 159 poles, 150 have been shifted. The transformers need to be shifted as well,” said a highway official from the Metro Wing, who is in-charge of the project.

The TNEB officials concerned, however say, “There are 31 structures along that stretch that we have identified for shifting. We’ve held a meeting with the highway officials and we’ve asked them to finish the digging work for the storm water drains and give us a duct for the electricity. Doing it after we’ve finished the shifting will bring in problems. It needs to be done simultaneously.”

The delay has brought additional woes to commuters. “Debris from the demolition is still heaped in places where the shops once stood. Partly demolished structures also still stand,” says Ravi, an auto driver.

In addition, there seems to be the problem of random parking. Policemen in charge say it is difficult to regulate the parking as there are no classified no-parking zones. “The road sees more than 9,000 Passenger Car Units per day. It makes life really difficult for the commuters,” say a policeman.

As of now, shops have been demolished from Theradi till the Ernavur Bridge. Policemen say demolition work in the area leading from Theradi to the Yellaiamman Temple is going on. But there has been no activity on the road from the Tondiarpet Toll Bridge till the Rajakadai area. “Out of eight phases, the demolition has been completed in six. Work on the seventh phase is currently going on,” said the highway official. “New tenders for the road widening work will be floated in two weeks, after which can I give information about the specifics,” he added.