Work on Rs 1,621cr elevated highway to begin soon

Coimbatore: Union home minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone for the 10.01-km long elevated highway from Uppilipalayam to Goldwins on Avinashi Road in the city at a function at Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai on Saturday. The project cost is pegged at Rs 1,621 crore.
The state highways department would now carry out the construction work in a phased manner.An official with the department says, “The plan is to implement the project on two stretches - from Codissia to CITRA and Lakshmi Mills Junction to Jail Road Junction - simultaneously in the first phase. These are comparatively wider stretches with less traffic flow. As such, the work won’t cause much of an inconvenience to the public.”
The project entails construction of 397 piers, each of which would be buried five to six metres deep underground. The official says the underground telecom cables and pipelines and overhead electricity lines at the locations that are selected for constructing piers would have to be removed.
“We have already informed the concerned departments and they have identified the underground utilities, which would be removed shortly. This alone would cost Rs 50 crore,” says the official.
According to her, up and down ramps will be constructed at Anna statue, Nava India, Hopes College and airport as part of the project. For this, she says, about 25,000 square metres land has to be acquired from private parties. “The revenue department has been holding talks with the landowners. At least Rs 300 crore would be used for land acquisition.”
Pointing out that Avinashi Road sees around 50,000 vehicles a day, the official says it usually takes about 15 to 20 minutes to travel from Uppilipalayam to Goldwins. There are 12 traffic signals between the two locations. “Once the elevated highway is ready, more than 50% of vehicles will start using it, reducing the travel time considerably.”