Brief Introduction to Chennai Peripheral Ring Road Project :
Chennai city is the capital of Tamil Nadu State and during the past few decades, the Information & Technology, Automobiles, and Manufacturing Industries has flourished in the city. And these have been among the main factors behind the Rapid development, growth & rise in the population of the capital city. However, the infrastructure system of Chennai has been upgraded timely in the past.
Now, Since again due to the growing traffic volume, the capital city Chennai needs a major infrastructure project as a solution. Keeping in mind the growth of Chennai city & increasing traffic volume Gov. of Tamil Nadu is in the process to identify & implement infra projects. To fulfill the huge gap of demand & supply of Infrastructure projects. And to make this possible, a major infrastructure project i.e. Chennai Peripheral Ring Road Project has been included in Vision 2023 of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
In this article, we’ll discuss about the Chennai Peripheral Ring Road Project and we’ll try to cover all the important information related to the project. Including the need of the project, Technical Details, Route alignment of CPRR, Overall length of the project, Expected cost ( Civil + LA ), Proposed Structures, Land Acquisition Details, Construction Packages, Current Status, Expected completion date, etc. So, Stay tuned till the end of this article for complete information about CPRR.
Need of Chennai Peripheral Ring Road
Chennai Peripheral Road is primarily conceptualized to provide better connectivity around the city and provide an efficient commercial transportation facility. This will cater to future traffic requirements by providing a seamless mobility facility and will also facilitate container movement from the southern districts of Chennai to Ennore Port.
Chennai city is located on the coast of the Bay of Bengal which makes the road layout in the metropolitan area to be a radial pattern. There are principal raial arterials , viz . NH – 5, NH – 205, NH – 4, NH – 45,
the north, northwest, west, and south respectively. In addition to this, there are 3 more radial arterials, (i) along the coast on the northern side (Thiruvotriyur High Road), (ii) between NH-4 and NH-45 (Arcot Road), and (iii) along the south coast (ECR & OMR).
Due to the lack of alternative traffic movement solutions, currently, these radial roads have to handle and cater to heavy traffic volume beyond their traffic handling capacity. In addition to this, the connecting road system, with a lot of missing links, has put tremendous strain on the radial network which resulted in traffic congestion problems in various locations.
The city has got three circumferential roads viz., Inner Ring Road, Chennai Bypass, and Outer Ring Road which connect the radial roads. But due to the presence of 3 ports viz. Chennai port, which is India’s second busiest hub, Ennore Port, and Kattupally port, these circumferential roads also have to handle huge traffic beyond the limits due to various logistics activities.
Since the past few decades, Chennai city has grown so fast that the city now needs a new ring road along with these existing ring roads.
Details of Chennai Peripheral Ring Road
If we now look into the details of the proposed Chennai Peripheral Ring Road Project, The peripheral ring road will be developed between the Ennore Port & Poonjeri Junction, Mahabalipuram.
The overall length of Chennai Peripheral Ring Road will be approx 133 KM. The proposed rad will connect four National Highways —NH-5, NH-205, NH-4, and NH-45, and 8 state highways – SH-51,
SH-50A, SH-50, SH-48, SH-57, SH-49B, SH-49A (OMR) and SH 49 (ECR).
Route Alignment and Sections of Chennai Peripheral Ring Road
The proposed ring road will be developed in 5 sections.
Section 1: Northern Port Access Road – Ennore Port to Thatchur on NH-5.
Section 2: Thatchur on NH-5 to Start of Thiruvallur Bypass
Section 3: Start of Thiruvallur Bypass to Sriperumbudur on NH-4
Section 4: Sriperumbudur on NH-4 to Singaperumalkoil on NH-45
Section 5: Singaperumalkoil on NH-45 to Mahabalipuram.
Section 1
In section 1, the highway starts from the Northern gate of Ennore Port and goes up to Thatchur with a length of 21.12 Km. Along with this, a connecting road of 4.35 km will also be constructed which will connect with Thiruvottiyur-Ponneri-Panchetti road. So in total, overall 25.57 Km long highway will be constructed in section 1. The highway will be constructed as a 6-lane divided carriageway with 2-lane service roads on both sides.
The Right of way of Section 1 will be 100m wide.
Section 2
Section 2 which is between Thatchur and Thiruvallur which is near Otthikadu village will have an overall length of 26.40 Km. This section will have 6 lane highway with paved shoulders and along with this 2 lane service roads will also be constructed on both sides of this highway.
Throughout the stretch of section 2, the Right of Way (ROW) will be 60 m wide. There will be a construction of 3m wide footpath on either side of the highway.
Section 3
Section 3 which will connect Thiruvallur bypass and Sriperambadur will have an overall length of 30.60 km under which 9.60 km will be part of existing state highway no. 57 which will be improved and upgraded to the standards of the ring road and the remaining 21 km of section 3 will be on fresh alignment.
This section will also be developed as 6 lane highway with paved shoulders along with 2-lane service roads on either side. Footpaths of 3m width will also be constructed on both sides
Throughout the stretch of section 3, the Right of Way (ROW) will be 60m wide.
Section 4
Section 4 which will connect Sriperambadur and Singaperumalkoil will have an overall length of 23.80 km and this section will be a part of existing highway SH 57 which will be upgraded to 6 lane highway. Along with this, 2 lane service roads will also be constructed on both sides of the upgraded highway.
Section 5
Section 5 which will connect Singaperumalkoil and Mahabalipuram will have an overall length of 27.47 km under which 2 km of the section will be of existing SH 49B that will be improved and upgraded to the proposed ring road standards and the remaining stretch will be developed on a fresh alignment.
In section 5, the highway will be constructed as a 4 lane carriageway with paved shoulders. The proposed Right of |Way of this section will be 60 m and footpaths will be constructed on either side of this section as well.
Salient Features of Chennai Peripheral Ring Road
Chennai Peripheral Ring Road is designed in such a way that vehicles can move with a speed of up to 100 KMPH on the highway.
If we now look into the type and number of structures proposed under the CPRR project, there will be the construction of :-
Interchanges 3 Nos
Railway Over Bridge 3 Nos
Major Bridge 5 Nos
Minor Bridge 20 Nos
Vehicular Underpass 32 Nos
Light Vehicular Underpass 17 Nos
Box Culverts 115 Nos
Pipe Culverts 215 Nos
Also, there will be the construction of entry/exit ramps on 3 locations of the highway.
For the construction of this ring road, approximately 8,400 no. of trees will be cut down. Also, approx 819 no of structures/ buildings that come between the proposed alignment of CPRR will be dismantled.
Construction Cost & Land Acquisition details of Chennai Peripheral Ring Road
For the development of this peripheral Ring Road, approximately 800 hectares of land have been acquired.
The overall cost of CPRR including the civil works and land acquisition work will be around INR 12,300 Crores as per the reports.
The project is funded by organizations like Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
Current Status, Contractors and Completion date of Chennai Peripheral Ring Road Project
Chennai Peripheral Ring Road is being constructed under Tamil Nadu Road Development Company (TNRDC) and for the development of this project, Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) model has been adopted.
Currently, work on some sections of CPRR is under construction where giant construction companies like Tata Projects Ltd and Larsen & Tubro are working whereas on some sections of CPRR project, currently bidding and tendering work is under progress.
According to its construction schedule, this ring road project is expected to be completed and become operational by the year 2025.
So, friends, this was all about Chennai Peripheral Ring Road Project. I hope you found this article informative.
Also, read about Chennai Bengaluru Expressway here.