Demand for Grants: Key highway projects in Trichy ignored

Trichy: The demands for grants session for the department of state highways in the state assembly on Tuesday handed a raw deal to Trichy with key pending infrastructure projects including two elevated corridors, a link road, and a bypass road not receiving any specific funds. Even the accident-prone Trichy-Thanjavur NH that lacks dedicated service roads for about 14.5 km passing through the city has not been considered.The only solace for Trichy is that the govt has promised to urge NHAI and Union govt to widen the narrow Trichy-Karur NH into a four or six-lane highway.“Elevated roads for the city are already late, trafffic in Trichy during weekends is bursting at the seams. Funds should have been sanctioned to launch works for Trichy HPO signal – Puthur flyover and Odathurai – Mallachipuram flyover,” Rajitvel Perumal, member of Trichy Intra-City Development Endeavours (TIDES), said. Even the link road proposed in 2021 between MGR statue roundabout near the district court and Sunnambukaranpatti near Somarasampettai has not made any progress.The demand for grants has not made any mention of the link road proposed as an alternative to the oversaturated Vayalur road connecting the city with western suburbs. The northern bypass mooted by state highways in 2022 connecting multiple highways including Trichy-Chennai NH hangs fire too.“We are trying to meet the highways minister to explain the seriousness of the service road issue. Fund allocation is much-needed for infrastructure pending for over 16 years to materialize on Trichy-Thanjavur NH,” said K Rajendran, general secretary, Federation for Retrieval of Trichy Palpannai – Thuvakudi Service Road.