Chennai Elevated Expressways

[Kewl Batty]

This is real Bad The Expressway should proceed taking care of these issues. It cannot afford to stop the project now!

CHENNAI: Beach-goers, fisherfolk, environmentalists and residents of Foreshore Estate, Olcott Kuppam and Orur Kuppam in Besant Nagar on Friday
demanded that the state government abandon its proposed 7.5-km six-lane elevated expressway along the beach from Marina to East Coast Road.

Under a newly formed forum, Save Chennai Beaches, an awareness and protest rally was held on Eliots beach. Members of the forum alleged that the project would disrupt fishing activity, displace coastal residents, disturb nesting turtles and damage ecologically sensitive areas such as the Theosophical Society and Adyar estuary, besides changing the face of residential areas.

Arun from Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN), a voluntary group, said that the construction of the expressway would disrupt the nesting spots of the Olive Ridley turtles, an endangered species listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife Act. SSTCN has been working since 1980 along the coastline, spreading awareness about the species and the need to conserve it. "We have so far saved more than 8,000 turtle hatchlings and released them safely into the sea. The proposed expressway will make it hell here," he said.

After consultant Willbur Smith Associates Pvt Ltd, appointed by the highways department, conducted a detailed feasibility study last year, the government planned to start work on the corridor construction, from the Lighthouse to Foreshore Estate, crossing Adyar estuary and beyond, up to Ururkuppam. The alignment joins Besant Nagar Fifth Avenue Road near Eliots Beach, before the second phase in Kottivakkam takes over.

According to Madras high court senior advocate Sriram Panchu, both phases violated environmental rules and the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) notification, 1991. He added: "The proposal is a subversion of the masterplan, as it finds no mention in the document. Given the magnitude of the legal issues, I only hope and trust the government should realise the legal implications and withdraw the project."

Theosophical Society general manager S Harihara Raghavan said the expressway would badly affect the fragile ecology in the Society grounds. "There were more than 160 migratory and native birds in the society, but it has come down to 80 now. The population of birds will be further affected in case the elevated expressway takes shape. The government should also think about the broken bridge near Srinivasapuram, which was washed away 30 years ago due to soil condition."

M G Devasahayam, managing trustee, SUSTAIN, an NGO, said that various plans proposed by government agencies to reduce traffic congestion - upgradation of roads near Foreshore Estate, linking Greenways Road to Durgabai Deshmukh Road, reclamation of the four-lane carriageway on L B Road by removing encroachments and construction of a grade separator-cum-subway at the Tiruvanmiyur junction - should be implemented soon.

Members of Save Chennai Beaches plan to make a representation to the state government soon.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/C...ow/4356980.cms

[Fusionist]

both the Coastal Elevated Expressway and the Port-Maduravoyil elevated stretch need to be dropped.

I don't think any elevated highway need to be given permission for construction inside the IRR ring.

[Kewl Batty]

So wat do you propose? An underground Expressway? [Just curious]
Here's is the list of 22 expressways proposed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chennai...ed_Expressways

[Fusionist]

Originally Posted by Kewl Batty

So wat do you propose? An underground Expressway? [Just curious]
Here's is the list of 22 expressways proposed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chennai...ed_Expressways

Try alternative means :

1. Expand Enore Port rapidly and decongest Chennai Port.
2. Connect Enore port with NH5. ( well its already there inways )
3. Expand Chennai Bypass on a war footing all the way to Ennore. This way Ennore will be connected with NH4 & NH45 through Chennai Bypass.
4. Also build the Chennai ORR very fast, and make it 6 lane al lthe way from Ennore.

As for local traffic within Chennai :
1. Invest more on metro. More lines and routes.
2. Increase road tax, making people use public transport more.
3. Use this income to improve quality of smaller roads, peripheral roads etc and take public transport more closer to peoples home. So there will be fewer people in the streets.

Investing on immovable concrete structures imo is not a good option for long term plans. They can become an obstacle to city planning very soon, as many western countries are finding out nowadays.

[Kewl Batty]

Originally Posted by Fusionist

Try alternative means :

1. Expand Enore Port rapidly and decongest Chennai Port.

yea!! The Kattupalli Shipyard cum port is being built by L&T & is juzz 5 km from Ennore port and also both Chennai and Ennore ports are under expansion.
So these 3 ports will be able to cope up with the demands!

And I dont think they have planned all these Elevated Expressways for the heck of it!? Anyway, lets see wats gonna happen.

[dis.agree]

...

[chennaidesi]

I am not sure why and does govt has any say after giving land.

[neohistoryman]

Completely agree with Fusionist about the 2 'expressways'. For small flyovers within the city, it is OK for the govt to go ahead on its own, but with major projects like these two, the govt should certainly do two things- 1. explain to the public why it is necessary to build such an expressway and that it has explored all other alternatives and has then arrived at this solution and also address all possible concerns in its explanation, 2. hold a public discussion to hear out the people's views. These are absolute essentials in a democracy and I don't think this has happened in either case.

These are major projects that can potentially affect thousands of people and it is the duty of the govt to explain clearly why it is necessary.

[Kewl Batty]

Port - Madhuravoyal Elevated Expressway has been listed in NHAI website in the section "under implementation". It can be seen at the end of the page under NHDP- Phase VII. Also Chennai - Ennore Express Way is in progress.

List of project under implementation

And this page shows that Soma Enterprises is implementing the project.
http://www.nhai.org/listnhdpphase5.asp



Any site updates for this project?

[PlaneMad]

ive seen clearing going on on the banks of cooum behind tarapore towers

[Kewl Batty]

thats gud to hear! mabbe in few months, the pillars start coming up?

[senthisenti]

that will really nice to see if the project takes its shape... all that we need is to finish of the project at a great pace....

[Kewl Batty]

‘Save the Beach’ campaign by south Chennai residents


Source

FOR A CAUSE: Beach lovers, including children, were part of the campaign on Friday to protest the proposed elevated coastal road.

CHENNAI: Concerned residents of Besant Nagar and other south Chennai localities close to the shore gathered at the Elliot’s Beach to condemn the proposed six-lane elevated expressway project along the coast on Friday. As part of the ‘Save the Beach’ campaign they distributed pamphlets to visitors at the beach in an effort to build public awareness against the project on the occasion of World Environment Day.

The campaigners added colour to their protest by hiring professional stilt-walkers from Vellore who caught the eye of all the passers-by. A group of artists strummed on guitars to pull the crowds. The young and the old got together to raise colourful banners with messages to save the beach. “The project will endanger the beach environment and affect the livelihood of fisherpeople who depend on it,” said T. Venkat, one of the campaigners. The expressway, which will run from the Light House point to the East Coast Road touching all the fishing villages along this stretch, has evoked fear of displacement among the coastal communities.

Pattinapakkam fishing panchayat representative A. Gangadharan said the concerns of fishermen were being ignored by the project authorities and tenements proposed for their relocation during the project construction phase were too tiny for any family to live decently. Regular beach users also expressed concern over the loss of places of recreation if such projects were to come up by the beach. “We want the beach to remain as a beach and not be hijacked for infrastructure projects,” said V.A. Subramaniam, a Besant Nagar resident. Over 1,000 people have signed a memorandum against the project and submitted it to the Chief Secretary. The memorandum argues that the proposed project instead of decongesting the Marina, as proposed in the feasibility report, will only further increase traffic in the area by attracting traffic from all over the city to the expressway.

[dis.agree]

does anyone know the planned alignment along thirvuvanmiyur beach? if so, please send me a link that provide such detailed information.

[ganeshram]

All who want elevated corridor along the beach. Please visit the link below and know what is happening. Remember always we need land to live and develop.

http://news.rediff.com/interview/200...as-beaches.htm

[Leo_r]

Saviours of Fisherfolks..

http://www.hindu.com/2009/06/06/stor...0658490200.htm

Look at the faces of these neo-intellectuals.. They all look very committed to the "livelihood of fisherpeople"

So let the Govt. resettle a million Fisherfolks in the VAST beaches of Chennai from Harbour to Mamallapuram.. They all will have an Urban environment to sustain themselves and our lovely Beach savers would have contributed their mite towards the poor as part of their social committment..

I do not think they have any other selfish motive !!!

[nsantha2]

Originally Posted by Leo_r

Saviours of Fisherfolks..

http://www.hindu.com/2009/06/06/stor...0658490200.htm

Look at the faces of these neo-intellectuals.. They all look very committed to the "livelihood of fisherpeople"

So let the Govt. resettle a million Fisherfolks in the VAST beaches of Chennai from Harbour to Mamallapuram.. They all will have an Urban environment to sustain themselves and our lovely Beach savers would have contributed their mite towards the poor as part of their social committment..

I do not think they have any other selfish motive !!!

Honestly, I'm not sure they care much for the fishing community as much as the destruction of the beach. Frankly, I'm more concerned about losing the beach than those fishing villages myself. Whatever, as long this thing doesn't destroy the coastal ecosystem, the kuppams could go.

[kannan infratech]

Having 3 major ports nearer to each other itself is not a great decision to start with. It looks totally irreversible at this stage.

Not connecting them to the main highways will be a criminal offence after spending so much money on these 3 ports development. North Chennai , being a congested area adds more obstacles for the development of connecting roads.

If you think of dedicated rail corridors connecting the ports to a suburban inland port (or a few), the cost of intermittant transport and time may be the major issues.

That puts the Port Madhuravoyal corridor as a top priority. But still the other 2 ports may not benefit much from this corridor.

The Ring Road which connects Bangalore Highway and Kolkotha Highway goes upto Minjur (Pooneri to Ennore / Manali Road). The same can be augmented to have dedicated freight corridors for the truck movement. Both L&T and Ennore ports may benefit from this. But still the old Madras Port will suffer. They can plan connecting old Madras Port and Ennore - may be by an elevated corridor since it will avoid the Parrys -Ennore congested belt. But implementation in short time is a BIG question.

We can not imagine anything on the lines of the most ambitious Mumbai Worli Sea Link Corridor. We are in TN.

Probably both Madras Port - Maduravoyal and Ring road extension upto Ennore are necessary.

But the coastal corridor project along the sea coast upto ECR sucks. We have discussed enough about this. It looks like the most unimaginative project ever, not at all considering the consequences, which can never be redeemed / repaired later. I read recently that the alighnment is not along the broken bridge but a little west of the same cutiing into the Theo. Society forest. I see some ulterior motives here.

It is better to consult all the stakeholders and then decide on the right course of action.

Please note that the Fishermen Kuppam people are the original habitants of the coastal areas and we are the encroachers. Though they have been spoiled to the core by doles (Tsunami), we can not justify any stand to move them away.

It is better to accomodate them first in the masterplan and then plan some thing for us.

[Kewl Batty]

wrong post.

[Kewl Batty]

Elevated expressway work to begin in November

Source

CHENNAI: Work on the 19.01-km four-lane elevated expressway from the Chennai Port Trust point to Maduravoyal on National Highway 4 will start in November and be completed in three years, said D.V. Raju, Soma Enterprise senior vice-president (business development), here on Wednesday.

“After signing the concession agreement with the National Highways Authority of India on May 18, we have started the preliminary work such as mobilisation, designing, casting yard, surveying and borehole soil investigation. Consultants have been finalised. The State government has to hand over 50 per cent of the land to us within six months from the date of signing the agreement and the balance within one year. The government is in the process of acquiring land and we don’t foresee any problem in starting the project on time,” he said.

According to him, the project costing Rs.2,090 crore will be undertaken on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis and the concession period is 15 years. The Centre will provide 40 per cent of the project cost as viability gap fund. The company has already received up front over Rs.260 crore.

Mr. Raju said the four-lane elevated expressway from the Central Silk Board junction to Electronics City in Bangalore would become operational in the next two months.

It is being built at a cost of Rs.760 crore.