Highways Department to take up repairs on Arcot Road, Mount Poonamallee Road

These roads have been returned to the Highways Department by CMRL after the completion of its work

Portions of two important roads in Chennai -- Arcot Road and Mount Poonamallee Road -- will be restored to ensure driving comfort. The Highways Department has called for tenders to repair and re-lay stretches of these roads, which have been returned to it by Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) after the completion of its work. 

According to official sources, initially, missing links of stormwater drains will be constructed. “We will ensure that the broken drains are repaired and connected to the disposal points. Our focus is on vulnerable points. This is to reduce chances of flooding during the monsoon. Simultaneously, we will also take up profile corrections of the surface and make the road comfortable for motorists. Complete re-laying will be taken up after the monsoon season,” a source said. 

A stretch of 1.4 km on Arcot Road will be repaired at a cost of ₹3.44 crore, while 800 metres on Mount Poonamallee Road will be repaired at a cost of ₹5.20 crore. On Arcot Road, the space along the crash barriers placed in the median also needs to be repaired. Additionally, portions of the road where side roads join the arterial road connecting to Porur will be repaired.

Syed Munna, an ambulance driver, said that poor road conditions cause problems for patients being transported in ambulances. “This is especially true for accident victims and those with fractures. Better roads also help reduce valuable travel time. For instance, a trip from Poonamallee to SRMC should take about 5 minutes, but due to bad roads and traffic, it takes between 10 and 12 minutes,” he said.

Jude Mathew, from the Tamil Nadu Independent Vehicle Owners’ Association, said that only few roads in the city were motorable. “Kamarajar Salai and portions of Anna Salai and Inner Ring Road are motorable. While CMRL projects happen on main roads, smaller roads have damages due to the construction of sewer lines and SWD. It is causing a lot of problems for residents and motorists. Vehicles also get damaged. Hopefully all these projects would be completed by the monsoon,” he said.