More ring roads, grade separators for TN: Baalu

Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu, Sep 8: The Union Government proposed to construct bypass and ring roads, grade separators and flyovers in different parts of Tamil Nadu under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase-VII, Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways T R Baalu said.

Declaring open a bypass road at Viralimalai, near here, yesterday as part of the four-lane project on the Tiruchirapalli-Madurai Section of National Highway 45B, Mr Baalu said new ring roads at Tirunelveli, Tiruchirapalli, Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem and an elevated link road to the Chennai Port were on the anvil. The UPA Government at the Centre was committed to bringing about all-round development of the road network in the country. Various phases of the NHDP had been taken up to improve the road network.

The revised programmes entailed an unprecedented investment of about Rs 2,35,690 crore, he added.

About 5,690 km of highways had been developed under the Golden Quadrilateral Project with work pending only on 181 km.

Under the North-South and East-West Corridors, works had been completed on 2,696 km out of the total 7,142 km. Work was under way on another 3,625 km.

Expressways and ring roads taken up under NHDP Phase-VI and VII would be completed by 2015. As a policy decision, all future projects under the NHDP would be executed primarily in the public-private partnership mode.

Under National Highways Development Programme NHDP IV-A, 1,232 km of national highways in Tamil Nadu would be developed into two-lane highways with paved shoulders.

In his address, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest S Regupathy said roads in this district had been strengthened with a Central assistance of over Rs 100 crore since 2006-07.

Tamil Nadu Highways Minister M P Saminathan said the State Government had spent Rs 4,690 crore on strengthening and renovating about 31,741 km of road stretches since it came to power.

The 742-km long Vellore-Tuticorin road, traversing 11 districts, was being developed at a cost of Rs 2,160 crore with the World Bank aid.

UNI