Highways Dept. to begin construction of Madhya Kailash flyover by year-end, complete it in 18 months

The Highways Department is expediting the process of construction of a two-lane flyover at Madhya Kailash junction, which will allow motorists from Saidapet to reach Rajiv Gandhi Salai (OMR) without having to stop at the traffic signal.

The 700-metre-long flyover will take off 200 m after the IIT flyover on Sardar Patel Salai and land near the Indira Nagar foot overbridge on the IT corridor. “Presently, the design wing is on the job and that work is likely to take another three months to be completed. The detailed project report for the flyover is ready and the estimate will be ready after the design is done,” explained an official source.

The process of land acquisition has been kick-started with the inspection of the site by the Revenue Department. The government order sanctioning funds for the land acquisition has also been issued. It is estimated that around 5000 sq m of land would be required for the formation of service lanes on either side.

G. Ramakrishnan, a resident of Besant Nagar, who welcomed the construction of a flyover, said that traffic jams are not uncommon on that road. “Even on Saturday afternoons, we have traffic jams on that road and they extend beyond Raj Bhavan. The same issue persists on both directions. A two-directional flyover or even an extension of the IIT flyover would be great,” he said. Since construction of a two-way flyover would involve more land acquisition, that is not being considered.

An Adyar resident Mithun Narayanan, who takes the MRTS regularly, said that pedestrians were at a great risk at the junction.

Violations galore

“Many people take the wrong side causing a headache for people like me who want to cross the road. And though there is enough police presence at the junction, most times they don’t seem to mind such wrong side driving,” he said. On completion of the facility, a foot overbridge has been planned. The department aims to commence construction by the end of this year and it would take around 18 months to complete the project. During construction some traffic diversions would have to be made. The junction witnesses traffic of over 1.25 lakh vehicles a day.