Curves to go at ECR
Posted on: 15/Mar/2014 12:55:09 PM
Chennaites can enjoy your Sunday drive on East Coast Road up to Mamallapuram since the Government is planning to straighten 10 curves on East Coast Road. Though land acquisition for four-laning of the road was completed 20 years ago, only now the Tamil Nadu Road Development Corporation (TNRDC) is in the final stages of removing encroachments for the project to start.
An official said all encroachments will be removed within a month, and in two years, widening will be completed. The government will spend 8.1 crore per kilometer for the 33km stretch between Akkarai and Mamallapuram. While the total cost of the project is 272.1 crore, 8.42 crore has been earmarked for street lights. The stretch has one major bridge at Muttukadu, five minor bridges and 19 box culverts. The road which is now 9.5m wide with two lanes will be widened to 23.5m with four lanes. Wherever there are service lanes, it will be expanded to 40m. The existing curves are designed to allow vehicles to go up to just 40kmph. After the widening, it will increase the limit to 65kmph. The rest of the road will continue to support a speed of 80kmph.
This will be done for nine of the 13 curves beyond Mamallapuram, up to Puducherry. “Widening of ECR beyond Mamallapuram will be done in the second phase. Land has been acquired for this stretch, as well– enough for a 45m wide road,” an official said. While the coastal road is built and maintained by TNRDC between Akkarai and Mamallapuram, the state highways department is responsible for the stretch between Thiruvanmiyur and Akkarai.
While the land acquisition for this stretch is bound to take at least a year to complete, it will take another year to select the contractor. After that, the actual work will take two years to be completed.
