Work on the road over bridge (ROB) at Pattarawakkam near Padi, undertaken to replace railway level crossing LC-05, is nearing completion.
Workers of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Programme (CMDP) division of the State Highways Department are giving the finishing touches to the Rs.35-crore project. The steel staircase is being painted, reflectors are being pasted and the lamp posts are being checked.
“It can be said the bridge is ready for use. However, as the code of conduct for the general elections is still in effect, the bridge would be opened once the results are declared (May 16),” a government official said.
Though the project was sanctioned in 2009 to support a resolution, passed at the monthly council meeting of the then Ambattur municipality, the actual work on the two-lane 1.15 km-long ROB began only in June 2011 with a deadline of 15 months. The project is a joint venture between the State Highways and the Southern Railway.
The 798-metre-long ROB would connect Aavin Dairy Road in Ambattur with Karukku Main Road. The bitumen-topped approach road is 967 metres long and has a width sufficient to accommodate a Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) bus and a car at the same time.
“The ROB is a part of the project to replace the existing railway level-crossings (both manned and unmanned) either with ROBs or RUBs (road under bridge or subway) by the Southern Railway,” said an official.
The new facility would benefit residents in Bharathi Nagar, Menambedu, Karukku, Kallikuppam, Ambattur, Padi, Kolathur and Korattur. At present, people have to wait for at least 20 minutes, at the level-crossing, every time a train passes. The level-crossing is the main link for interior localities in the western part of the city and the main city via Karukku Main Road.
Some risk their lives by crossing the tracks when the level-crossing is closed.
According to railway officials, fatal accidents occur frequently on the track between Basin Bridge and Tiruvallur railway stations.
Further, the new bridge would be a shorter route to reach the Chennai–Tiruvallur High (CTH) Road and then to the main city rather than taking the existing route where people have to go up to Retteri to reach Anna Nagar, Aminjikarai and Kilpauk.
“For years, residents have been demanding a flyover to replace the railway level-crossing. Now, it is of immense relief to see the facility in place,” said B. Santhosh, a resident in Kallikuppam.
