State Highways opens new bridge near government hospital in Walajah

In a move that brought relief to hundreds of hospital staff and school students, the State Highways opened a ₹15.20 crore bridge near the Government Taluk Hospital in Walajah town on Walajah-Sholinghur High Road in Ranipet on Saturday.

Officials of the National Highways (NH) wing of the State Highways, which executed the work, said that the aim of the new bridge was to help hospital staff with patients cross the busy stretch safely.

The new bridge would also help students at Government Boys Higher Secondary School in crossing the stretch. “The new bridge has ended the ordeal of crossing the stretch as the route witnesses continuous flow of vehicles. Better safety measures on the new bridge should be provided to prevent rash driving,” said R. Vinod, a motorist.

“The underpass was opened immediately to allow pedestrians as most of the vehicles will use the bridge. Other minor works like painting will be completed soon,” S. Kumaraswamy, Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE), State Highways (Vellore), told The Hindu.

The stretch bifurcates the government hospital, with one section like the main office building and outpatient wards located on one side of the stretch and other departments like CT scan centre on the opposite side. 

Originally given its nod in 2019, the new bridge has been executed under the Annual Plan of the State government. The two-lane bridge is 500-metre-long and 12-metre-wide with at least 20 LED streetlights on the bridge and its service lanes. Tiled footpaths with steel hand railings are also provided. People can also use the underpass of the bridge to cross the stretch.

Highways officials said that vehicles were allowed to use the carriageway on the bridge. Work on new stormwater drains along the service lane, which is around 500-metre-long and five metre-wide, installation of LED streetlights, construction of a culvert and road safety measures like reflectors and warning sign boards are under way. These ongoing works, especially on the service lane, will be completed in the coming weeks.