Work on road overbridge on Krishnagiri – Ranipet main road in Vellore town nears completion

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Officials of the State Highways Department said that work to construct pillars on the Krishnagiri – Ranipet main road had commenced. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

More than 70 percent of the work for the ₹37.62 crore road overbridge (ROB), which will replace the existing manned railway level crossing (LC 128) on Krishnagiri - Ranipet Main Road was completed.

Officials of the State Highways Department, which executes the multi-crore work, said that work to construct pillars on the Krishnagiri – Ranipet main road commenced.

“The new bridge will provide safe access to motorists to reach nearby towns and arterial stretches. The bridge will be ready by the end of December this year,” D. Mohanraj, Assistant Engineer (AE), State Highways (Vellore), told The Hindu.

Originally given the nod in 2009, the new bridge was jointly done by the Southern Railway and State Highways under Railway Works Programme 2008-09. The two-lane bridge, which was funded by the Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, is 767.34-metre-long and 12-metre-wide with at least 50 LED streetlights on the bridge and its service lanes.

Tiled footpaths with steel hand railings would be constructed. Staircases from the bridge to reach the railway station at Vellore Town will also be provided. The new facility would have approach roads to a distance of around 300 metres on either side of the bridge.

For motorists, the new bridge would end a de-tour of at least five km that they usually undertook to reach either side of the railway level crossing. The railway gate remains closed for long hours due to movement of express trains. As a result, students, office goers, farmers, and traders travelled a long distance to use a similar bridge, five km away from the town. “Ambulances and government buses have to take a detour to reach either side of the railway track. The new facility was a long-standing demand of residents in the town,” said T. Vijaya, a resident.

Highways officials said that of the total 24 pillars that form part of the new bridge, only four to five remains to be completed. Work was expedited to prevent any delay in the completion of the bridge due to the Northeast monsoon. The new bridge would connect the central parts of Vellore town with Chennai – Bengaluru National Highway (NH 48). It would also give easier access to mofussil buses travelling to Tirupattur, Krishnagiri, Salem and Hosur.

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