[avarberickibe]

In an effort to decongest traffic junctions in the city, the state highways department is all set to appoint consultants to prepare detailed project reports (DPRs) to construct five grade separators.

The proposed grade separators will come up at the intersections of Kaliamman Koil Street and City Bus entrance of CMBT with Jawaharlal Nehru Salai (JNS) at Koyambedu and junction of Southern Sector of JNS with Mount-Medavakkam Road at Madipakkam. A grade separator will replace the busy Medavakkam junction connecting Medavakkam Mambakkam Road and Medavakkam-Sholinganallur Road.

The intersections of Mount Medavakkam and Pallavaram Thuraipakkam Road near Kilkattalai and Mount Poonamallee Avadi Road and Poonamallee Kundrathur Road with Chennai-ChittoorBengaluru Road at Poonamallee Kattupakkam will also be replaced with a grade separator.

The highways department has floated tenders to appoint consultants for preparing DPRs for the five grade separators. “It will take at least five months for preparing a DPR after the appointment of consultants. After the scrutinising the DPR, it will be submitted for the government approval,” a senior highways official said.

The works on the grade separators are taken up as per the recommendation of the Comprehensive Traffic and Transportation study. Of all the five intersections, the intersection of Kaliamman Koil Street and City Bus entrance of

CMBT with JNS at Koyambedu is the busiest one. “Traffic jams on Kaliyamman Koil Road are not uncommon since it is the entrance and exit point for both government and private long-route buses to reach the Koyambedu terminus,” the official said.

According to a recent survey conducted by the highways department on the stretch near the CMBT bus stop, an average of 1.20 lakh to 1.30 lakh vehicles use Jawaharlal Nehru High Road every day. “It will take at least a year for the physical work to start,” the official added.

-dc chn