Work on city’s first steel bridge to begin in April

Houses demolished on Buckingham Canal Road at Thoraipakkam for laying the road between Neelankarai on ECR and Thoraipakkam on OMR.

Construction of the city’s first steel bridge, which will come up across Buckingham Canal connecting Thoraipakkam and Neelankarai, is expected to begin in two months’ time.

The State government has sanctioned a total of ₹35 crore for the construction of the bridge, whose design is ready. It will be built at a height that will allow boats to ply in the waters beneath.

Sources in the Highways Department said the facility would allow the completion of Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road’s extension, which starts from the GST Road. On completion, it would provide connectivity to the East Coast Road (ECR) for motorists coming from the GST Road.

Tenders have been floated and the process is in an advanced stage. “We expect the work to begin by April-end. Construction time for the facility would be nine months,” the official added.

Kannan Balasubramanian, a resident of Thoraipakkam, said that from Thiruvanmiyur to Sholinganallur, there is no link road between OMR and ECR. Local people going to schools and offices find it extremely difficult to cross the canal during rush hour, he said.

“We only have a few small pedestrian facilities, constructed years ago, that are used by heavy vehicles. But if one autorickshaw crosses it, vehicles on the other side have to wait on the narrow roads leading to these bridges. Worse still, we hear that the Greater Chennai Corporation has plans to demolish those facilities, which will cause more problems,” he added.

A retired Highways official said the bridge could be connected to the roads on either side only if the Revenue and Water Resources Departments (WRD) provide lands.

“On the Thoraipakkam side, the WRD has to relocate residents of 43 houses and on the other side, the Revenue Department has to provide compensation to residents of CLRI Nagar in Neelankarai. Hopefully, these would be completed on time to link the bridge, bringing the much-needed relief to residents of OMR,” he said.

About 800 metres of road has already been completed on the OMR side, while another 600 metres has to be laid on the ECR side.