Tenders Floated for ₹2,100-Crore Elevated Corridor on Chennai’s ECR

The much-needed upgrade for Chennai’s East Coast Road (ECR) will be taking off with the Tamil Nadu State Highways Authority floating tenders for a 14.2 km elevated corridor from Thiruvanmiyur to Uthandi. First announced by Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu in the current year during the State Budget session, the ₹2,100 crore project is supposed to relieve congestion on one of the busiest stretches in the city.

According to the officials, the four-lane elevated structure will start from West Avenue, just before ECR and will continue all the way up to Uthandi. The corridor will be built along the median, with various entry and exit points. The facility will be 17.25 metres wide with a vertical clearance of 5.5 metres for heavy vehicles to pass through without hindrance.

The construction will proceed under the hybrid annuity model (HAM), which merges characteristics of the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) and BOT (build-operate-transfer) modalities. The land already acquired for widening ECR into six lanes will be used, but additional land will be needed for the ramps.

A retired engineer from Highways pointed out that the corridor is expected to operate in such a way as to alleviate two-way traffic. Motorists heading towards Mamallapuram and Puducherry would not have to suffer long signal waits at Kotivakkam, Palavakkam, and Neelankarai. Equally, the entry into the city from the ECR would be without local congestion thanks to the flyover. He added that this would take some of the load off the arterial road, which today carries almost 70,000 vehicles a day.

The corridor will especially benefit slow-moving vehicles from connecting streets helping to improve traffic flow and reduce commuters’ travel time. Once completed, it is likely to emerge as a vital link supporting both city-bound and outbound traffic.

Officials estimate the project will take around four years to complete.