Finally, decks cleared for expressway from Chennai Port to Maduravoyal

The work on DMK government’s pet project — the Chennai Port-Maduravoyal expressway — is all set to begin in September this year.

A senior Chennai Port official said that a detailed project report (DPR) is being prepared and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will float tenders soon. The cost of the project is around Rs 6,000 crore and will be borne by the NHAI.

The 21 km expressway project was mooted during the earlier DMK government (2006 to 2011) at an estimated cost of Rs 3100 crore. In between, the AIADMK came to power and shelved the proposal. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin put it on high priority once he became the chief minister.

Chennai Port chairman Sunil Paliwal said the expressway will have two decks. The upper deck will be for vehicles plying between the Chennai port and Maduravoyal without any entry or exit in between. The vehicle owners will have to pay a toll for using the upper deck.

The lower deck will be a six lane road for buses, cars and other vehicles with at least 13 entries and exits. No toll will be levied on the lower deck, Paliwal said.

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“The 2010 expressway plan had only one deck, but the number of vehicles has increased manifold over the last decade. Therefore, the need for two decks now,” said Paliwal.

The alignments of the project have also changed. “As per the new alignment, the project will start from Gate 10 of the Port and go through the Navy Enclave near Napier Bridge. We have acquired nearly 10,000 square metres of land inside the Enclave and around 64 dwellings will have to be demolished,” said the official.

Alternatively, the Port has given 10,000 square metres of land close by for resettling the 64 households. “The Chennai Port and Tamil Nadu government have agreed to construct the dwellings at a cost of Rs 470 crore. In other areas too small patches of land will have to be acquired which should not be a problem,” Paliwal said.

The Chennai Port will see more traffic once the expressway is ready, which officials say should happen in the next two years. “As of now, most of the trucks carrying thousands of cars enter the port only during night due to heavy traffic in the day. Once the expressway is commissioned, trucks can enter even during peak hours without disturbing the city traffic,” said the official.