Work on subway near Green Circle in Vellore on fast track 

 The pedestrian subway will be ready by August, say officials.

Work on the ₹7.5 crore pedestrian subway below the elevated bridge of the Chennai-Bengaluru Highway near Green Circle, a roundabout, in Vellore is on fast track as tunneling work across the busy stretch is nearing completion.

Officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which executes the new subway work, said that the new underpass will end a de-tour of at least one km of travel by motorists and walkers. More importantly, the new facility will save more lives on the stretch because the Green Circle roundabout witnesses an average 5-8 accidents, mostly involving pedestrians, every month.

Pedestrians, who are mostly commuters from the new bus terminus, risk themselves in crossing the busy stretch. “The new underpass will also help to decongest the service lanes on both sides of the highway. The new facility will be ready by August,” a NHAI official told The Hindu.

As per plan, the new pedestrian subway will be 25 metres long, 5.5 metres wide and 3 metres high. It will have facilities to discharge excess rainwater, CCTV cameras, LED streetlights, reflectors, sign boards and ramps for persons with disabilities. Steel railings will be provided to ensure safety of walkers especially senior citizens, women and children. “The new subway will help us to cross the accident-prone stretch safely especially during rush hour. At present, a group of walkers stop vehicles to cross the stretch,” said K. Vinodini, a resident.

NHAI officials said that the work for the new subway was started more than a year ago. The subway was expected to be completed in three months. However, continuous flow of vehicles in all directions has slowed down the work because safety of workers and road users has been the priority.

As per study done by district police, on an average, 80-100 vehicles including government buses, ambulances, lorries, trucks and two-wheelers pass through the Green Circle below the elevated bridge every minute during rush hour.

In fact, the Green Circle is one of the identified ‘black spots’ within Vellore Corporation limits. These black spots are accident prone spots that are based on reports given by the police to the district administration. Similar pedestrian subways are also being built at Kandaneri and Vettuvanam in Vellore on the stretch.

NHAI officials said that as per norms, each underpass, on an average, on the highway should be built at a distance of 1.5 kms to help safe crossing. Also, such facilities can come up at key intersections, crowded spots like food joints on the highway. Currently, the highway between Krishnagiri and Walajapet (Ranipet district), a distance of 148 km, has 17 such underpasses between Walajah and Krishnagiri.

Published - June 01, 2025 12:44 am IST