Opposition is mounting against the Rs. 48.25 crore Road Over Bridge (ROB) project coming up in lieu of railway level crossing No: 132 in the city with regard to its structure, location and planning.
Road Under Bridge (RUB) project coming up in lieu of level crossing no: 133 had been entwined in a legal struggle, with S. Eswaran, an activist and founder of Aatharavu Iyakkam, recently moving the Supreme Court questioning the 'arbitrary' decision to change the location of the bridge and changing the nature of the structure from ROB to RUB.
K. Ravichandran, an activist from Palaikadu, who had submitted many representations to Collector and Highways department officials against the manner in which the ROB was coming up in lieu of level crossing no: 132 since 2011 was planned, is set to approach the court against the project.
“Original plan of this ROB project too, like in the case of ROB planned across the other level crossing, has been to construct the structure over the present railway gate in a straight line.
“But the manner in which the work on the bridge is taken up in another location recently makes one feel that the very purpose of the project is thwarted. There is no wide road to take the heavy vehicle traffic that goes over the bridge from its southern side to the northern portion,” Mr. Ravichandran pointed out.
Moreover, the vehicles coming out through southern side will be again joining the Uthukuli Road before proceeding to the Old Bus Stand or Collectorate sides and there is a sharp bend in the bridge on the southern side, he pointed out.
According to Mr. Eswaran, the petitioner in the other case, the officials are wasting additional expenditure by “dubious choice of routes at a time when straight stretches are available”.
The bridge project, which was expected to be completed in August 2015, has hit another block already as some land acquisition problem had come up in the northern side of the railway track.
