Union cabinet approves 4-laning of Marakkanam-Puducherry NH
The Union Cabinet on Friday approved the four-laning of 46-km Marakkanam–Puducherry section of National Highway-332A in Tamil Nadu.
The stretch is part of the 264-km Chennai-Puducherry-Nagapattinam corridor, which is also called East Coast Road or ECR. This was the only two-lane stretch in the corridor.
The project will be developed on Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) — a variant of public-private partnership (PPP) — at a cost of Rs 2,157 crore.
It traverses through Chengalpattu, Villupuram districts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
The existing road between Marakkanam and Puducherry is 34.1-km-long. Its widening was not found to be feasible as the road is surrounded by around eight habitations and commercial establishments and it would have required many underpasses at junctions and substantial land acquisition in built-up areas, leading to higher costs and delays.
So, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) took a bypass alignment, which is 12-km longer than the existing stretch.
According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, out of the 46-km length of the project, the existing 11-km two-lane stretch will be upgraded to four-lane and the rest of the 35-km will be the bypass portion of the corridor, which will divert heavy commercial traffic away from Puducherry city.
Officials said the four-laning of the stretch will double the average vehicle speed and reduce travel time between Marakkanam and Puducherry by 40% — from 60 minutes to 35.