Roads connecting the ports to be get fresh top coat

Around 30 km of roads are to be restored at a cost of ₹80 crore under the Ennore Manali Road Improvement Project

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will renew the surface of four important roads in north Chennai that allow heavy vehicles, mostly container-trailers, to provide connectivity to Chennai and Ennore ports.

The roads — Ennore Expressway (EEW), Tiruvottiyur-Ponneri-Panchetti (TPP) Road, Manali Oil Refinery Road (MORR), and the northern sector of the Inner Ring Road (IRR) — are all part of the Ennore Manali Road Improvement Project and were last laid in 2015.

Around 30 km of roads are to be restored and resurfaced at a combined cost of ₹80 crore. Tenders have been called and technical evaluation is under way. The work is expected to be completed in six months.

Sources in the NHAI said that restoration work would be first carried out at junctions and stretches that need attention. “We have planned to lay pavement quality concrete (PQC) at junctions where the wear and tear is more since heavy vehicles brake, wait for signals to change and restart. Six junctions will get this concrete with IRR getting 1, TPP Road 4 and MORR 1,” the source said. The IRR will get 2.5 m wide paved shoulders running to a length of 5.5 km and the MORR will get two bus shelters. 

Apart from the EEW, which will be laid with 50 mm thickness of bituminous concrete, the other roads would get 40 mm thickness. “Since a large number of heavy vehicles use these roads, the issue of wear and tear is something that we have to take into consideration while re-laying. We will use cold milling to remove the worn out coat and only then re-lay the surface,” explained the source.

V. Rajkumar, who commutes frequently to Tiruvottiyur, said the traffic flow had improved much on the EMRIP roads but more can be done. “However, the police must ensure that they adhere to speed limits and do not speed around. Dedicated parking spaces should be created for heavy vehicles so that service lanes are freed of the trailers,” he said.