Chennai: A beautiful uninterrupted aerial view of the city’s coastline from the comfort of an air-conditioned metro train in next six years for commuters. The Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) has planned an elevated corridor on Old Mahabalipuram Road.
CMRL has started conducting soil test on Old Mahabalipuram Road with the construction of the line linking the IT hub which is expected to begin next year. The soil test for the 50km stretch is currently under work along with a 10.6km section between Tidel Park and Sholinganallur.
Several portions of OMR, including spots near Tidel Park signal, Taramani, and Sholinganallur, have been barricaded to collect soil samples. CMRL plans to build 12 elevated metro stations along this 10.6km stretch. In all, OMR will have 22 elevated metro stations till Siruseri Sipcot.
A metro rail official said “Soil test results will be ready in eight to 10 months. This will be crucial for the final design of the corridor”
The officials said soil samples are being collected at one location over a period of 24 hours before workers shift their equipment to the next spot 25m-50m away. The samples will then be sent for lab tests to determine the soil type.
The 50km stretch where soil tests will be conducted includes a part of corridor 3 and 5. According to CMRL, the 50km line is expected to be ready in next six years according to the plan.
the officials said they planned an elevated corridor on OMR till Siruseri Sipcot as the road is wider here. This line is also part of the 20% elevated corridor planned in phase-2, as the rest of the stretch will be underground.
Meanwhile, the barricaded portions of OMR have begun to slow down traffic during peak hours. “As it is, driving through OMR during peak hours is hell. I am dreading the day when the actual construction begins on this stretch, though it will be convenient for us to go to work once metro trains start running,” said Jaikiran, a software engineer at an IT company.
