Traffic in Arakkonam to ease soon as new Outer Ring Road nears completion

Arakkonam town near Ranipet to see relief with completion of 16.92 km Outer Ring Road connecting key cities.

Motorists in Arakkonam town near Ranipet can heave a sigh of relief in the coming weeks as work on the 16.92 km-long Outer Ring Road (ORR), connecting Kancheepuram, Arakkonam and Tiruttani is nearing completion.

The work is part of the Chennai-Kanniyakumari Industries Corridor project under the East Coast Economic Corridor that aims to connect key coastal cities like Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Chennai and Kanniyakumari. “The new ORR stretch will ease traffic in the congested Arakkonam town as goods-laden lorries and trucks will skip key roads in the town and use the new bypass road,” K. Mukundan, Assistant Divisional Engineer (ADE), State Highways (Arakkonam division), told The Hindu.

Accompanied by D. Jebaselwin Gladson, Chief Engineer (CE), and K. Senthilkumar, Superintending Engineer (SE), State Highways, S.A. Raman, project director, ECEC, inspected the Kanchipuram-Arakkonam-Tiruttani Road in Arakkonam on Thursday.

The 41.77 km stretch, which connects these three towns, was widened at a cost of ₹359.06 crore under the Asian Development Bank-funded initiative. At present, motorists have to go through narrow roads in Arakkonam town to travel on Chittoor-Cuddalore highway via Tiruttani amid traffic congestion during rush hour.

The existing subway near the railway station is a short route for motorists to reach both sides of the town. “New bypass road will provide more road space on the town’s key stretches for two-wheelers and autorickshaws. Pedestrians too can walk safely on these stretches in coming days,” said S. Priya, a motorist.

Around 28 farming villages including Sembarambakkam, Govindavadi, Pallur, Arikilabadi and Melpakkam will benefit. The ORR work includes construction of two road over bridges (ROB) to replace railway level crossing at Arigilapadi and Melpakkam villages near the town. Also, two high-level bridges across Melandurai lake and Kallar river also form part of it.

Of the total 16.92 km of ORR, around 2 km stretch at Melpakkam railway level crossing is in progress whereas rest of the work, including high level bridges, has been completed. The entire work will be completed in the coming weeks.