Roads near Metro stations to be laid by December

Roads near Metro stations to be laid by December

The civic body will complete road-laying work in the vicinity of Metro Rail stations on the Koyambedu-Alandur stretch by December.

These stations are likely to become operational by then. Work on finalising bids for roads identified by Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) is under way.

“We will finalise bids this month, and the roads will be developed in two months. Work on footpaths will be taken up later,” said a Chennai Corporation official.

New links roads, connecting Kaliamman Koil Street and Poonamallee High Road through Nerkundram Main Road, are also likely to be developed to improve ridership of Metro Rail.

Milling of damaged roads and re-laying with 60 mm dense bitumen macadam, in addition to a 40-mm layer of bitumen concrete with plastic content, is likely to be carried out on most of the stretches.

The specially-designed roads will be able to handle high-density traffic near the Metro stations.

The civic body is also designing wide footpaths near the Metro stations at Arumbakkam, Vadapalani, Alandur, SIDCO Nagar, Ashok Nagar, CMBT and Koyambedu. Meanwhile, officials of CMRL said they had informed the highways department and the Chennai Corporation of the need to improve street network around the Metro stations.

“We communicated this to them about six months ago. The idea is, civic agencies may want to make the stations more accessible, and thereby, increase the number of commuters using the Metro Rail,” said a CMRL official.

CMRL has also identified 30 routes from Koyambedu to St. Thomas Mount, where mini buses and share autorickshaws will ply commuters from interior areas to the nearest Metro Rail stations.