Flyovers in Chennai

Chennai is home to the second largest vehicular population in India, behind New Delhi. The total road network in the city's metropolitan area is 2,780 km. With Chennai's vehicular population having experienced a surge in the late 1990s, several flyovers were built to reduce the traffic congestion in the city. Of about ₹ 15,600 million invested by the state government between 2005 and 2014, Chennai cornered a major chunk of the investment.[1] As of 2014, there were 22 functional flyovers in the city[2] and about 30 bridges, catering to the city's vehicular population of about 3.9 million, including about 600,000 cars. In addition, more than 36 flyovers are in the pipeline.[2]

Beginnings

The city's first flyover is the Anna Flyover at the Gemini Circle built in 1973, which was the third in India, after the ones at Kemps Corner and Marine Drive in Mumbai. It was also the longest flyover in the country when it was built.[3] No major flyovers were built in the following 20 years or so. The number of flyovers in the city began to rise in the late 1990s when a string of nine flyovers were built across the city during the tenure of the then Mayor of the city, M. K. Stalin.[1]

Road space

As of 1 April 2013, the total vehicle population of Chennai is 3,881,850, including 3,053,233 two wheelers.[4]

The flyover construction in the city has resulted in the addition of a mere 12.4 km of extra road capacity between 2005 and 2014. As of 2014, the total length of operational flyovers in the city was 13.5 km.[1]

List of flyovers

  1. Anna Flyover
  2. Chromepet Flyover
  3. Alwarpet Flyover
  4. IIT Flyover
  5. Doveton Flyover
  6. Perambur Flyover
  7. Madhuravoyal grade separator
  8. Padi grade separator
  9. Koyambedu grade separator
  10. Kathipara grade separator
  11. Tambaram flyover
  12. Peters Road flyover
  13. Conran Smith Road flyover
  14. Dr. Radhakrishnan Road flyover
  15. Music Academy flyover
  16. Panagal Park flyover
  17. TTK Road flyover
  18. Mahalingapuram flyover
  19. Pantheon Road flyover
  20. Thirumangalam flyover
  21. Moolakkadai flyover
  22. Vandalur flyover

Criticism

Between 2005 and 2014, the state government has spent over ₹15,590 million erecting flyovers and grade separators, of which ₹11,440 million (88%) was invested in Chennai. The city hosts all 21 elevated urban corridors open to traffic in the state in 2014.[1]

Critics and town planners feel that the flyovers in the city have had very little to do with traffic improvement. In the late 1990s, a Traffic Action Plan was prepared for the city. It is said the brain behind the traffic action plan was the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), which organised seminars in hotels and conducted traffic studies and public opinion surveys. The investments made by the automobile industry resulted in an increase in the city's per capita ownership of cars, which by 2012 was second in the country, behind New Delhi.[1]

Various global studies indicate that flyovers and elevated roads tend to "induce" new traffic because of the apparent extra road space, and this held true in the case of Chennai, according to experts. The number of vehicles on Chennai's roads had increased dramatically since the late 1990s, resulting in regular traffic snarls.[1]

Critics also say that, despite costing 4 to 5 times a normal road, flyovers do not resolve the problem of traffic congestion. For the ₹15,500 million spent between 2005 and 2014 by the state government, critics opine that the government could instead have invested in buying about 7,000 public transport buses or laid more than 2,000 km of dedicated cycle lanes or built an extensive bus rapid transit system covering about 150 km.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sreevatsan, Ajai (6 October 2014). "The case against flyovers". The Hindu (Chennai: The Hindu). Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 Hemalatha, Karthikeyan (18 July 2014). "Chennai set to get more flyovers". The Times of India (Chennai: The Times Group). Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  3. ↑ Ramakrishnan, Deepa H. (1 July 2012). "Flyover wall mended after 3 days". The Hindu (Chennai: The Hindu). Retrieved 5 Jul 2012.
  4. ↑ Sasidharan, S. (10 April 2013). "1.4 cr 2-wheelers ply on TN roads". Deccan Chronicle (Chennai). Retrieved 13 April 2013.
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