Finally, Periyar Nagar RoB to be thrown open in Aug

The much-awaited Periyar Nagar road over bridge (RoB) will be open for traffic by the first week of August, according to district collector K Rajamani who inspected the progress of the work on Wednesday. Executed by the state highways department with a portion built by the railways, work began two years ago at an estimated cost of Rs 43crore. However, the cost has escalated to Rs 125crore at the end of the construction due to the increased price of land acquisition.


Once the bridge becomes operational, it would ease traffic at Srirangam from Thiruvanaikaval and from Chennai to the city. Though the project witnessed setbacks resulting in the delay, it has taken relatively less time compared to many other infrastructure projects in the city. The state government had in February 2011 given in-principle approval for establishing a four-lane RoB at Periyar Nagar by dismantling the existing two-lane RoB as it was causing frequent traffic snarls for visitors and pilgrims entering Srirangam.

A total of Rs 47crore has been spent on the bridge alone while the remaining Rs 78 crore has been spent on land acquisition for the project. Once the bridge work is completed, it will benefit close to 2.10 lakh people in Srirangam and Thiruvanaikoil. Similarly, people of Lalgudi and Pullambadi can avoid frequent traffic congestion while commuting from the rural areas to the city limits.

Asked on the service roads, the collector said that land acquisition for these has been in progress though it had hit a roadblock after some residents went to court. But that would not prevent the bridge from being put to use for traffic movement. “Now that we have agreed to give the revised cost for acquiring land, the service roads are expected to be operational in 4 months,” he said.
Divisional engineer of state highways, C Nagarajan, said that 95% of the work had been completed and the bridge portion over in all aspects. The approach road from Chennai side, Trichy side and Kallanai side were in progress which would be completed by July-end. The painting work, road furnitures, lighting arrangements, service roads and pier protection work were to be carried out separately.

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