Trichy road over bridge

Thiruchirappalli commonly known as Trichy is an ancient district located in Tamil Nadu. It is located at about 300 km to south of Chennai. The NH- 45 connects Trichy to Chennai. It’s known for the NIT, BHEL and its ancient temples. Its home to nearly a million people extending over an area of 167.23 sq. Km. It is the fourth largest municipal corporation in the state.

Current Traffic scenario:

The current traffic index for Trichy is 62.17 which is comparatively less than Chennai which has 161.44. Traffic Index is a composite index of time consumed in traffic due to job commute, estimation of time consumption dissatisfaction, CO2 consumption estimation in traffic and overall inefficiencies in the traffic system (Numbeo). Even though this is less compared to Chennai it’s quite high for a town like Trichy when compared to the economic development and spatial sprawl of Trichy and Chennai. The average time taken to go to work place or school is 35 minutes which is also high.

Road over Bridge:

As a step to reduce the traffic congestion, a Road over bridge connecting Chennai bypass and Trichy City was initiated in the year 2010. It extends about 600m. The initial estimated cost was around Rs. 28 Crores. This bridge is believed to reduce the traffic congestion and helps to avoid people taking the circuitous route to get to Chennai bypass via Srinrangam.

Hassles and Delays:

Land aquisition for this project was opposed by over 100 families in 2012. They demanded reallocation of their houses in the City limits though the government agreed to allot lands to them in Nagamangalam in the City outskirts. After resolving this issue the state government faced another regarding not able to find a proper contractor to do the work in the allocated budgets.

This specific issue was unresolved for a long period of time by the railway department which prolonged the opening of the bridge for the public use. Around 70 families were already reallocated for land aquisition and currently the second part of the construction is set to start since two contractors have come forward to place bids.

The current cost has shot up to 43 crores and the completion of the bridge is estimated to finish around January 14.

Real Estate:

The well-established connectivity will promote real estate in this region. The sides of this bridged has a chance to the sprawled with commercial buildings but since the congestion is reduced inside the city this could instead encourage people to migrate to outskirts of the city where cheap lands are available since traveling to interiors will take lesser time which is usually the main reason for anyone to search a land in the center of the city.