Chennai: The ongoing expansion of Sardar Patel Road from the Raj Bhavan point up to the IIT-Madras signal junction has been stuck with no sign of progress for the past couple of months. This highways department’s ₹48-crore road-widening project, which began last year, has effectively stalled, with several stretches still awaiting work.Result: The IIT-M junction continues to be a chicken-neck, causing traffic pile-ups almost 24×7.Several portions in the vicinity of the highways department headquarters, Anna University, and the DOTE campus remain uncleared. On the opposite side too, the department has not widened the road despite removing some buildings. Near Gandhi Mandapam, trees have been cut and demarcations made for widening, but work has not begun.The contractor is not seen at the worksite even during the day. Beyond IIT-M, the widened sections resemble a curved sixth lane rather than a straight stretch, indicating non-uniform land acquisition.From Guindy towards Kotturpuram, the highways department has widened the road alongside the IIT-M flyover but has not removed the barricade to provide a free left. This is because the proposed widening of portions of Kotturpuram Road needed for the free left has not been completed.Similarly, vehicles travelling from Adyar towards Guindy face congestion from the L-flyover as the Gandhi Mandapam side has not been widened to six lanes. Commuters from Adyar said it takes around 20 minutes to cross the Sardar Patel Road-IIT junction.A traffic police official from Madhya Kailash said a signal-free traffic plan for the IIT-M junction was scheduled for April but had to be delayed due to road widening. “More than 11,000 vehicles ply through this stretch every hour. Once the widening of the Sardar Patel Road-Kotturpuram junction is completed, we can provide a free left for vehicles heading from Guindy to Kotturpuram, and a free right from Sardar Patel Road towards Kotturpuram for vehicles coming from Adyar and OMR,” the official said. “The sixth lane will facilitate a free left, while those taking a right can use the existing carriageway. There won’t be any collision,” the official said.For vehicles travelling from Kotturpuram towards Guindy, traffic police have planned a U-turn beneath the L-flyover. “We have kept boards too. But as three spots have not been widened on this stretch, this cannot be implemented yet. If all the vehicles pile up to take the U-turn now, there will be congestion in the existing two-lane stretch,” the official said.While a senior highways official said there was no delay and that work was happening every day, another department official said the project faced problems in procuring bitumen. “We faced a hike in bitumen costs. Secondly, during the elections, they told us Anna University was a strong room, and we couldn’t widen there. So, we postponed the works. It will be finished by Sept,” the official said.
