Chennai: A four-lane vehicular overbridge at Okkiyam Madavu at Old Mahabalipuram Road was opened for public use by chief minister M K Stalin on Wednesday.Built by Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) at a cost of 60crore, the bridge replaces a narrow crossing over the Okkiyam Madavu canal, which was a major traffic bottleneck for years, and is expected to improve traffic flow along the busy IT corridor. The bridge carries through traffic on OMR, a stretch that sees heavy daily movement of office-goers, buses, freight vehicles, and airport-bound traffic. The canal below drains water from the Pallikaranai Marsh into the sea via Buckingham Canal.“The Okkiyam Madavu bridge was expanded to improve flood resilience, waterway flow, and connectivity in the Pallikaranai marsh area. The existing bridge, with a restricted waterway of 90m and low vertical clearance, proved inadequate during the floods triggered by Cyclone Michaung in Dec 2023. The waterway was expanded from 90m to the full 205m width,” CMRL said earlier. The bridge now has an additional 1.5m vertical clearance.The bridge is expected to cut travel time, improve road safety, and reduce fuel wastage caused by stop-and-go traffic. It helps streamline access to nearby residential neighbourhoods and IT parks while easing pressure on adjoining internal roads. Officials say the project will play a key role in managing future traffic growth in the area, especially as metro expansion and new commercial developments come up on Rajiv Gandhi Salai.Stalin also laid the foundation stone for the Integrated Multimodal Transport and Commercial Complex at Mandaveli bus terminus, at an about 167.09 crore. It aims to integrate bus services while generating non-fare revenue.
