The newly opened elevated corridor was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Chennai on Saturday. , Photo Credit: G.Murthy
The first elevated corridor for Madurai district, a four-lane highway connecting Madurai to Thuvarankurichi via the Natham section of National Highway 785, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conference from Chennai on Saturday.
The construction of the 7.3 km long elevated corridor started in 2018 Bharatmala Pariyojana Plan. However, the construction had to be halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adequate number of police personnel were deployed on Gokhale Road even as large groups of people gathered on the roadside to witness the inauguration. Following the inauguration, vehicles queued up to take the newly opened elevated corridor, which was illuminated in the evening. CCTV cameras and solar blinkers have been installed along the elevated corridor.
A test was conducted by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials and Madurai city traffic police earlier this week. The officials wanted to ascertain the number of vehicles using the elevated corridor and the new Natham road below it.
Police has urged the vehicle users to follow the rules and maintain the speed limit on the elevated corridor. Motorists say that they will benefit from the construction of an elevated corridor. He said that the vehicles coming in between will not face any problem.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also laid the foundation stone for four laning of Tirumangalam-Vadagupatti and Vadagupatti to Therkuvenganallur on National Highway 744 through video conferencing.