The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is set to address safety concerns on the Trichy-Chennai National Highway by targeting three identified black spots within Trichy city. Previous attempts were hindered by technical challenges, prompting the Trichy project implementation unit (PIU) of NHAI to collaborate with a Mumbai-based road safety consultant for innovative solutions.
The problematic locations on the Trichy-Chennai NH include the Kollidam Y road junction, Sanjeevi Nagar junction, and G Corner junction. The current strategy involves implementing a vehicular underpass (VuP) at Sanjeevi Nagar to enhance safety during highway crossings. The plan envisions elevated roads for through traffic, with local traffic utilizing the underpass.
For the Y road junction near Thiruvanaikoil, a separate vehicular underpass (VuP) is proposed to mitigate potential hazards. At G Corner junction, NHAI is considering a vehicular overpass (VoP), a bridge over the highway, to facilitate smoother traffic flow for vehicles traveling to and from Ponmalai and circumvent congested areas.
Addressing engineering complexities, such as elevation differences at the Sanjeevi Nagar junction, will involve input from road safety experts. The NHAI aims to complete a comprehensive report on eliminating these black spots by April 2024 and will subsequently seek funding from its headquarters.
Surya Narayanan, a research scholar specializing in transportation engineering at IIT Jammu, highlighted that the proposed VoP could connect the NH service road from the TVS Tollgate junction to Ponmalai, providing a bypass route and contributing to congestion reduction.