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To ease traffic congestion in Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on April 1 announced a slew of road projects, including an elevated road between Taramani and Mamallapuram. The elevated road is to ease traffic congestion caused by the proliferation of IT companies, educational institutions and skyscrapers.

She said this in the State Assembly that the 45-km stretch would be covered in two phases. The first would cover the stretch between Taramani and Siruseri and the second between Siruseri and Mamallapuram. Jayalalithaa announced an allocation of Rs five crore to prepare the project report. The government has also planned a Rs 200-crore multi-storeyed parking facility at Siruseri in the private-public-partnership mode.

An extent of 4.90 acres given to the Tamil Nadu Road Development Corporation (TNRDC) on a 99-year lease will be used for the purpose. The 20-level parking lot can accommodate 2,000 vehicles and 50 buses. Another major project on the anvil is conversion of the road between Tirunindravur and Padi into a six-lane road. The allocation for this 22-km stretch is Rs 168 crore. In the first phase, it would be converted into four lanes at a cost of Rs 98 crore. The Chief Minister said that in 2005, the road was handed over to the National Highways Authority, but was not taken up under the National Highways Development Project after the possibility of toll collection was ruled out.

The road had been badly damaged due to heavy traffic and the government had decided to bring it under urban State roads and make it a six-lane facility, Jayalalithaa said.

The Thandalam-Perambakkam-Thakkolam Road will also be expanded into a four-lane stretch at a cost of 39.40 crore. This conversion, she said, would ensure smooth flow of truck traffic from Chennai Dry Port at Mappedu to National Highway-4. SIPCOT had already leased out land to the port at Mappedu at a cost of Rs 126 crore.