Traffic diversions at Madhya Kailash junction from Friday

With work to construct a flyover nearing completion at the Madhya Kailash junction, traffic will be diverted on three nights starting Friday, for installing a high mast lamp to better illuminate those sections of Sardar Patel Road and Rajiv Gandhi Salai. 

The diversion, for which permission has been obtained from the traffic police, will be in effect from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.  

The Greater Chennai Corporation will take up the work on behalf of the Highways Department, which has deposited ₹85 lakh for the installation of 35 light poles and the high mast lamp.

Work to install lamp posts and to lay power lines has already begun near the VHS hospital, said a source in the Highways Department, which is building the L-shaped flyover at a cost of ₹60.68 crore. 

Around 90% of the work, including 19 spans of the 652-metre-long flyover, has been completed. The structure is expected to be ready in two weeks, after which other works, including painting and installation of signages, will begin. 

Lighting on the flyover will be taken upon the completion of the approach on Sardar Patel Road, where crash barriers are currently being constructed. The approach on the IT Highway side is nearly done. 

G. Murugan, a resident of Taramani, said the condition of the road near IIT-Madras was poor and must be rectified as soon as possible.

Sources in the Highways Department said the road often sank due to the presence of old sewer lines and manholes belonging to the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board. Unless these are repaired, the road would continue to sink..