Work on the Rs 700-crore grade separators (flyovers) project on the 45-km-long Chennai's IT Corridor is expected to start early next year. According to sources at the Tamil Nadu Road Development Company (TNRDC), land acquisition and all other formalities are “more or less over”; the DPR (detailed project report) is currently being vetted by the Government. Once started, it would take two years to complete, sources say.

The 20-km-stretch from Madhya Kailash temple junction to Siruseri was developed in the first phase. TNRDC has identified five junctions — Thiruvanmiyur (Tidel Park junction), SRP Tools, Lifeline Hospital, Thoraipakkam-Pallavaram and Sholinganallur - to build the grade separators.

According to Mr Krishnakumar Menon, General Manager of Aloft, one of the hotels on the stretch, currently close to 40,000 vehicles ply on the corridor each day. Particularly, in the last three-four months, more than half a dozen big companies shifted their base to this stretch, adding to the traffic. “The grade separators, if comes up as proposed, would certainly ease the traffic flow here,” he says.

The opening of the Mass Rapid Transit Line along the first 3 km stretch and the presence of densely populated residential areas along the stretch and ever-increasing vehicle population often lead to traffic congestions at select junctions. “It takes me at least an hour to reach my office at Siruseri from Thiruvanmiyur. I'm sure the grade separators would reduce the travel time by half, at least,” says Mr K. Sivakumar, a senior executive of a software company in the stretch. His company is one of those that shifted to the IT Corridor recently.

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