Work on widening the Old Bypass Road in Vellore from a two-lane stretch to a four- lane stretch has begun to prevent traffic chaos in the town during festival season and to improve connectivity to the Chennai-Bengaluru highway.
Officials of the Department of State Highways, which executes the work, said that traffic on the route would be slow in the coming days because of the widening work. Initially, the work had been taken up near Old Town because of availability of open space along the existing carriageway.
The work is being monitored by R. Prakash, Assistant Divisional Engineer (ADE), State Highways (Vellore)
“Widening of the stretch will help motorists from Old Town to skip the congested Anna Salai and Arcot Road to reach the highway and Katpadi,” said S. Vinoth, a motorist.
Funded under the Comprehensive Road Infrastructure Development Programme 2022-23, the work on the 1-km stretch, will convert the existing seven-metres width of the carriageway into nine metres with tiled pavement.
Old storm-water drains were replaced with new wide drains (3 metres wide and 1.5 metres deep) on both sides of the stretch as part of the work. The new drain will prevent inundation in residential areas along the highway. Excess rainwater will be discharged into the nearby Nicholson Canal that is connected to the Palar.
As part of the work, eight Tangedco poles have been identified for relocation. Likewise, trees that are located near the existing carriageway will be uprooted. A wide culvert is being built along the stretch to discharge excess rainwater into the canal. The entire work will be completed in two months.
Areas such as Shenbakkam, Mango Mandi and Ambedkar Nagar along the highway get flooded during monsoon due to slow discharge of rainwater through culverts and bridges on the stretch, and blocks in the water channel. Officials of Vellore Corporation deploy high-power pumpsets to drain stagnant rainwater in these areas during monsoon.
The 9-km-long Nicholson Canal is a key source for the Palar as the water channel discharges excess rainwater from nearby hillocks such as Pinchamandai, Kurumalai, Nechimedu, Pallakollai, and Vellakalmalai to the Palar. Local lakes such as Suriyakulam and Otteri are filled up. For residents, the canal helps prevent inundation of the town during monsoon, the Corporation officials said.
