Valankulam rail overbridge opening on Nov-3
Highways Minister M.P. Swaminathan (right) and Coimbatore District Collector Neeraj Mittal (second right) inspecting the construction of the Valankulam overbridge in the city on Wednesday.Two lanes on Ukkadam – Valankulam rail overbridge would be thrown open for traffic in the first phase on November 3 and the remaining two lanes would be completed immediately after November 15.Highways Minister M.P. Saminathan, District Collector Neeraj Mittal, State Highways Superintending Engineer N.T. Krishnamoorthy, Divisional Engineer (Projects) M. Sreerangan and others inspected the ongoing works at Ukkadam across Valankulam. Later talking to reporters, Mr. Saminathan said because of the rain the final stages of the bridge work was getting delayed. However, in view of the ensuing Deepavali festival season and the resultant increasing traffic problems in bazaar areas, two lanes of the four-lane bridge would be opened for traffic from November 3.Opening of the bridge would be a great relief for the choked traffic at Town Hall, Ukkadam and Lanka corner. Motorists need not be stranded at the Lanka corner underpass because of the flooding.
Outbound traffic to places such as Palakkad, Pollachi, Udumalpet and beyond could bypass Town Hall and Ukkadam areas and this would help smooth inbound traffic from these places.The four-lane bridge work was planned at an outlay of Rs 15.4 crore. The works commenced on January 30, 2003 and the Highways portion was completed in March 2005. The bridge has a length of 680 mts (railway span measured 38 mts) and width of 17.3 mts. Illumination of the bridge would be done and 48 light poles with two lights each would be fitted.Considering the plea of the residents living in and around the Ondipudur bridge, Mr. Saminathan said staircase would be constructed in the bridge at the earliest.
With regard to the Avanashi Road six-lane project, the Minister said tender process would be completed in respect of all the five stretches in November and December. The shifting of electricity poles would also be completed in the meanwhile and the roadwork would be commenced in January and completed by March.Four-lane work on Nanjundapuram Road would be completed at a cost of Rs. 93 lakh. The 12-km battered stretch on the National Highway No. 67, between Bypass Road and Stock Exchange on Tiruchi Road, would be widened and strengthened at a cost of Rs. 20 crore, he said.As an adhoc measure Rs. 2.5 crore would be spent on patchwork for making the road motorable. Of the 39 rail overbridges sanctioned in the district, the Minister said eleven of them were in Coimbatore Region.
