New Elevated Corridor to Reduce Thiruvanmiyur-Uthandi Travel Time to Only 10 Minutes

Commuters using the East Coast Road (ECR) will soon save significantly on travel time following the construction of the elevated corridor connecting Thiruvanmiyur and Uthandi. The Highways Department has issued tenders for the construction of the project, which will be taken up at an estimated cost of ₹1,075 crore over a 15-km stretch. When done, the travel time between these two major destinations will be reduced from an hour to merely 10 minutes.

The department had already started the work of converting the Thiruvanmiyur-Akkarai stretch into a six-lane road to ease traffic congestion. Heavy vehicular movement, especially during rush hours and festival seasons, is prominent along the eastern corridor with about 1.1 lakh commuters and 69,000 vehicles using the ECR daily. Currently, Thiruvanmiyur to Uthandi would be expanded for a 15 km stretch, which has 17 traffic signals and 347 smaller roads joining with it, bringing severe bottlenecking.

As one of Chennai’s busiest routes and an important entry and exit point into the city, East Coast Road has seen rapid urbanization. In addition, the volume of traffic along the corridor has increased because of the increasing number of IT hubs, educational institutions, hospitals, hotels, other commercial establishments and residential communities. The department is also building a five-foot stormwater drain on each side of the road and a four-foot-wide central median to help curb congestion.

The delay in the further acquisition of the land has delayed the construction of the ECR from a four-lane road to a six-lane road. Yet the project has seen some progress, with ₹778 crore committed for land acquisition and another ₹174 crore sanctioned for the widening process. Officials now anticipate that the remaining work will be done in the next couple of months.

To ease movement at various points, the elevated corridor will have entry and exit points at five major areas: LB Road Junction, Thiruvanmiyur RTO, Neelankarai, Injambakkam and Akkarai. A roundabout would be made at Akkarai, interconnecting ECR with Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR).

With this update, commuters can expect improved travel on this key stretch of ECR.