Finally, Thanjavur Main Road widening work begins

TRICHY: After a brief delay, the state highways department has begun work on widening the

Thanjavur

Main Road near Palpannai. As part of widening the carriageway, it is now working on the storm water drains on both the sides of the road.


Considered as one of the shortest gateways for people from delta districts to access the city’s landmarks, Thanjavur Main Road connects old Trichy roads with Palpannai junction where Trichy-Chennai and Trichy-Thanjavur National Highways intersect. As Gandhi Market, the most happening vegetable and essential commodities trade area in central districts, is located on Thanjavur Main Road, traffic snarl-ups are quite common.

As space is available for widening, the state highways department announced in May that Thanjavur Main Road would be widened, and the work commenced last week. Officials said that the road would be widened to have a minimum width of 10 metres. “People arriving from Kerala and Coimbatore make use of Thanjavur Main Road to reach pilgrimage spots in the delta districts. As the Varaganeri residents use the road each day, road widening is a welcome move. But it should be completed at the earliest,” S Vasudevan, a resident of Mahalakshmi Nagar, said.

The highways department has launched work to widen the 800-metre stretch between Palpannai junction and Rettaivaikal bridge out of the total 2.2 km long road. As the width of Thanjavur Main Road varies between 9 metre and 15 metre at several spots, the widening works will increase the road’s width by minimum 1 metre to maximum 3metres.

Meanwhile, the residents of Mahalakshmi Nagar alleged that haphazard parking of vehicles on the road affects the traffic. They had urged authorities not to allow unauthorised parking of trucks once the road was widened.

“Soon after the work is completed to facilitate storm water drains, road widening works will begin. The Rs 2-crore project has been scheduled to conclude by the end of January,” a senior official with the state highways department told TOI.

It may be recalled that TOI on July 21 carried a report titled ‘Delay in widening Thanjavur Road frustrates commuters’.