Traffic congestion to reduce - Connecting Greenways Road with Durgabai Deshmukh Road in Chennai by Highways dept!!
Many motorists use the Durgabai Deshmukh Road and a portion of Greenways Road in Chennai.
It is now revealed that the Highways dept has started the work to construct a 600m road for connecting Greenways Road (D.G.S. Dinakaran Salai) with Durgabai Deshmukh Road near the Thiru Vi- Ka Bridge.
Information gathered is that the 3 lane road would begin near the Government Music College and vehicles from the Santhome High Road having to take left at the arch and reach the bridge.
The road would pass through lands belonging to several departments such as PWD, Revenue Dept, Tourism Dept, Arts and Culture dept etc and would take about a year to get completed. This was brought out by some sources.
By turning right before the bridge, motorists going towards Mandaveli from Santhome High Road would be able to bypass traffic. Meridian would be removed and the stretch between T.N. Rajarathinam Pillai Hall and Greenways Road would be made one way. At a cost of Rs 27cr, the one-way road is being constructed. It must be noted that the project proposed in 2022 has obtained CEZ clearance. Point to be noted is that certain structures like the pet care centre, portion of judge`s quarters and Music College arch would be demolished and rebuilt.
With the permission from the District Environment Committee, the Highways dept are having plans to shift 12 trees and cut 57 trees.
The Greenways Road residents are unhappy because of felling of a large number of trees in their area for the project and concerns were raised. It is shocking that trees that were more than 25 years old were cut and this was as per a resident in an apartment near the Music College.
It was later pointed out by another resident that trees play a huge role as the lungs in Chennai. With people opting for private or own vehicles as transport mode over the public transport, traffic has become more now. He spoke about how when trees were cut then birds, insects etc would get affected. He concluded that the government must reconsider the plans to lay the road.
To ease traffic in the peak hours, road extension was essential. This was as per Mr. Dha. Velu, Mylapore MLA. It was brought to light by some sources belonging to the Highways dept that the area was like forest and laying roads would be impossible without cutting and shifting trees.
