Road-widening work in progress from Epudur to Panjapur in Tiruchi on Friday.
| Photo Credit: M. MOORTHY
Work on widening a narrow stretch between Panjapur and Edamalaipattipudur in Tiruchi is progressing at a brisk pace with the authorities expecting to complete it by September.
A sum of โน17 crore sanctioned from the Central Road Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) scheme 2023-24 is being utilised to widen and strengthen the narrow state highway connecting Panjapur and Edamalaipattipudur in the city. The project is being implemented by the National Highways department.
The existing two lanes of the highway are widened to four lanes and storm-water drains will be built on the eastern side of the stretch. A median with LED lights would be constructed to regulate the movement of vehicles. A separate tender would be floated soon to develop the retaining walls on a section of the road abutting the Koraiyar.
The work, which commenced in February, is expected to be completed in the next three months. At present, the culverts are widened to increase the width on either end. โWe have instructed the workers to expedite the widening work in order to cater to the vehicular movement after commissioning the bus terminus,โ said Ravikumar, additional divisional engineer, National Highways.
With the upcoming integrated bus terminus, the wholesale integrated vegetable market and the truck terminal in Panjapur, the 1.5-km stretch would witness high density of vehicular traffic. As it would become a major connecting road, the narrow road would be inadequate for the rush hour two-way traffic, he said.
As the buses catering to the Edamalaipattipudur, Nagamangalam, and the neighbouring areas depend on the narrow stretch, the residents have been demanding that the road be widened.
