20.5 km Chennai Port to Maduravoyal Corridor Project Will Be Complete By December 2024: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Monday said that the 20.5 km Chennai port to Maduravoyal elevated corridor project developed at an estimated cost of ₹5,800 crore will be completed by December 2024.

The Minister said the proposed elevated stretch would be developed in four sections and will start inside the Chennai Port and end after the Maduravoyal interchange.

The project will serve as a dedicated freight corridor for Chennai bound port traffic and increase the handling capacity of Chennai Port by 48 per cent and reduce the waiting time at the port by 6 hours, the Minister added.

In July, NHAI invited tenders for the construction of a double-decker, four-lane elevated corridor on Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) mode under the Bharatmala Pariyojana.

The 21-km elevated corridor will be constructed in four packages. According to the revised plan, out of the 21 km, 12 km corridor will be a double- decked corridor. It is located between Maduravoyal on the Chennai-Bengaluru highway and the Napier bridge which is close to the Chennai Port gate.

The first level of the corridor facilitates the movement of light vehicles between Koyambedu and Chennai Port. The corridor has ramps for entry and exit at 13 different locations. They include Chintadripet, Monteith Road, Binny Road, Spurtank Road, Aminjikarai police station, Kamaraj Salai, Sivananda Salai, College Road and Arumbakkam.

The second level was designed specifically for heavy motor vehicles between Chennai Port and Maduravoyal. Currently, cargo traffic from the south or west region of the state has to detour through the Outer Ring Road at Perungalathur towards Maduravoyal, Red Hills, Tiruvottiyur and enter the Chennai port in Royapuram — nearly 75 km away, taking about two hours. However, using the proposed elevated corridor, it will take just 45 minutes.

Almost a decade after the project was halted, earlier this year in May, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Union Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways, and Civil Aviation Vijay Kumar Singh among the four stakeholders — the Tamil Nadu Government, the National Highways Authority of India, the Chennai Port Authority, and the Indian Navy.

The elevated Corridor will aid in the efficient movement of cargo in and out of the Chennai Port. Currently, trucks are entering and exiting the port through Royapuram, the port’s northern end. The new elevated structure will allow entry and exit through the port's southern end in the city centre.