Residents of Redhills, Ambattur, Puzhal, Gummidipoondi and its surroundings have renewed their demands for construction of an elevated corridor from Nallur toll plaza to Madhavaram junction. This comes close on the heels of State Highways Minister Aadhav Arjuna submitting a memorandum containing a list of projects to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

The stretch of road is presently under the control of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which had earlier planned to construct an elevated corridor along the median. However, later it decided to hand over the stretch back to the State Highways as both sides of the road have residential and commercial buildings and land acquisition would be too expensive.

Social activist S. Suresh Babu said that an elevated corridor was needed for improving connectivity to residential and industrial areas in the surroundings. “There are many container freight stations, godowns, industries and small units, mechanic sheds and residential areas from where vehicles take this road. So much so, this important corridor carries around 1.50 lakh vehicles a day. If an elevated corridor comes up, the heavy vehicles will take it and local traffic will not be disturbed,” he said.

K. Suklaprakash, a resident of Gummidipoondi, said that elevated corridors are being constructed from Maduravoyal to Sriperumbudur, and Thiruvanmiyur to Uthandi. “The NHAI must give up it’s proposal to return the road to the State Highways. The Padi to Thiruninravur stretch was handed over in a similar fashion 20 years ago. That road is yet to be widened despite many efforts. The traders keep objecting,” he said.

Advocate V. S. Suresh said that many accidents happen on the road quite frequently since it connects the city with Andhra Pradesh. Traffic is growing day by day. In such a situation, handing over to the State government is a bad idea. “Widening of the road and removal of encroachments must be taken up on a war footing to prevent accidents and loss of lives. Parking spaces must be created for trucks so that they don’t take up space on the service lanes. The elevated corridor will ensure that fast moving traffic is segregated. A wholesome study of the road must also be taken up,” he suggested.