Chennai Outer Ring Road project awarded

Chennai: The Phase II of the Chennai Outer Ring Road project which would be costing an estimated Rs 985.44 crore was won by a consortium of Ashoka Buildcon and GVR Infra Projects. With the objective of de-congesting the roads of Chennai city, the government of Tamil Nadu had divvied Rs 1,075 crore for the project.

The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) is developing the major transport corridor of the Outer Ring Road along the periphery of Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA). The corridor stretches for 62.3 kilometer in length and connects NH 4 (GWT Road) at Nazarathpet, NH 45 (GST Road) at Vandalur, NH 5 (GNT Road) at Nallur, NH 205 (CTH Road) at Nemilicherry(Thiruninravur) and TPP road at Minjur. The key objective of the project is to allow heavy vehicles to journey outside of the city, minimizing traffic congestion within the central city areas.

On 29th of August in 2010, Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu – M. K. Stalin had laid the foundation for the first phase of the project from Nemilichery to Vandalur covering a distance of 32 kilometers. The Project is currently being developed within 2 phases which are further split into two segments each.

The Phase 1 of the project canvases an expanse of 29.65 kilometers. The Phase I of the project was implemented and completed in June 2012 by GMR. The completed project consists of major junctions possessing ten grade separators, fifty bus bays on both sides and also truck lay-byes proffering parking for roughly 100 trucks, construction of five major bridges, three interchanges, eight vehicular underpasses, 18 pedestrian subways, three flyovers, two minor bridges and 100 box culverts.

The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) acquired land for the project within two phases. For the first phase the CMDA took possession of 29.65 kilometers of land between national highway (NH) 45 and NH205, covering 29 villages. The second phase acquired approximately 30 kilometers of land from Nemilicheri to Minjur, covering numerous villages. The project is expected to boost real estate prices and commercial activities in the surrounding areas.

In January 2012, the Tamil Nadu Government cleared the second phase of the ORR project, which will redirect heavy vehicles and container laden trucks coming from southern districts to Chennai and Ennore ports and industrial corridors near Chennai. The 62-km ORR project links the peripheral areas of the city from Nemilichery in the south on NH 45 to Minjur to the north of Chennai.

The implementation of the second phase of Chennai Outer Ring Road (ORR) from Nemilicheri in NH 205 to Minjur in Thiruvottiyur-Ponneri-Panchetti Road was awarded to the consortium by the Tamil Nadu Road Development Company Ltd.The decision was taken by the Tamil Nadu Road Development Company Ltd on the basis of build, design, finance, operate and transfer to the consortium which is a 50:50 joint venture between GVR Infra and Ashoka Buildcon. In accordance to a press release issued by Ashoka Buildcon, the project is on an annuity basis with a concession period of 20 years and the entire construction would be based on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) system.

The segments three and four are covered under the second phase. The third Segment involves construction of the 19.1 kilometer Nemilicherry-Nallur Road which would spread across 258.02 hectares, while the fourth segment would be overseeing the construction of the 14 kilometer Nallur-Minjur Road over an area of 195.8 hectares. The ORR would be widened to a width of 122 meters, which would consist 72 meter of road and rail corridor while the remaining 50 meter would be left for the purpose of future developments like public facilities and commercial set-ups. The 72 meter road and rail corridor would be divided into a 50 meter road and a 22 meter railway. The 50m road would possess a two-way transportation corridor, with three lanes on either side along with two service lanes. The remaining 22 meter space would be utilized for the future mass rapid system / light rail transit system.