Tamil Nadu to get its First Expressway Between Chennai and Tiruchirapalli

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had recently made an announcement of the new road projects including expressways, bypasses and economic highways for a distance of 6,747 kilometres throughout the country at several locations. To decide on the locations, even advisors were appointed to review and finalise the projects.

During the second phase of these projects, Tamil Nadu will also be benefiting, from a couple of new projects that will include expressways flyovers and bypasses. The plan for the project is currently underway and the land acquisitions would come at the later part of the preparations to establish the project in the state.

It is important to note that Tamil Nadu’s first expressway was planned between Chennai and Salem but during the time of land acquisitions, the local farmers did not cooperate with the plan and even went ahead and staged protests against the 8-way lane highways that would have changed the level of road transport in the state.

This project is currently being challenged with a legal battle that has made it impossible to turn into fruition shortly.

Meanwhile, a new expressway project is being proposed by the NHAI for the state of Tamil Nadu from Chennai to Tiruchirapalli district. This expressway would be a 310 km stretch and would turn the six-hour travel between the two cities into a 4-hour travel.

The highway between these two cities is currently 4-way lanes and according to sources, the NHAI is considering acquiring the lands around the highway to turn them into 8-way lanes. Apart from this, the source added that another smaller expressway is being planned between Pillayarpatti and Thoothukudi at a length of 160 km, which in total would be a 470 km stretch of expressways that is upcoming for the state of Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, another prominent highway project that is notable at this point is the Chennai - Bengaluru highways that are being transformed into expressways.

The first phase of this project is the building of the 23 km stretch of flyover from Maduravoyal to Sriperumbudur which is expected to take off before the end of 2024.

According to the source from NHAI, this project is added to the project list for the fiscal year 2024 - 2025. The project is expected to be completed in an estimated ₹3,500 crores.

This expressway would be made into 6-way lanes and smaller adjoining bridges would be constructed for the entry and exit at several points.