Dindigul highway widening work to four lane begins

The Highways Department has commenced work on widening the city stretch of the Tiruchi-Dindigul highway into a four-lane road, fulfilling a long felt demand of the motorists and local residents.

The project had been taken up with funds sanctioned under the Comprehensive Road Infrastructure Development Programme.

The district had been allocated Rs. 148.92 crore for 52 works under the project. The work would be executed in 15 packages.

Widening the city stretch of the Dindigul Highway was one of the components sanctioned under the programme.

One of the busiest roads in the city, the highway had turned an accident zone in recent years.

The Tiruchi-Dindigul National Highway (NH 45) had been widened into a four-lane road by the National Highways Authority of India from the outskirts beyond Ramji Nagar.

The city stretch was handed over to the State Highways Department.

The department last year strengthened the road in four packages of 2 km each at a cost of Rs. 8 crore.

However, the heavy volume of traffic had triggered a demand for widening the road with median. Local residents say scores of residential colonies and a slew of educational institutions had come up along the highway, which generated huge heavy vehicle traffic. Commercial development along the roadside had led to heavy encroachments.

The stretch of the road between the Koraiyar and Ponnagar had become highly accident-prone, they said. The road would now be converted into four lanes with seven metres width on each side. A median would be provided, sources in the Highways Department told The Hindu . The project would be taken up at an estimated cost of about Rs. 16 crore and the work was expected to be completed within six months.

However, the project did not envisage a bridge across the Koraiyar. Sources said a separate proposal to widen or replace the bridge was likely to be taken up next year.

The project will be taken up at an estimated cost of about Rs. 16 crore and is expected to be completed within six months

Source