namma mejura

We hear a lot of infrastructure plans in & around Madurai. It is gratifying to hear new projects, but more often than not, things crawl at snail’s pace and takes decades to complete. I intend to write a series of pending/proposed infrastructure project lists, starting with Bridges in this post.

Here’s a list of proposed bridges and their present status. A long pending bridge at Shanthi Nagar (behind Fatima College) was completed last year.

Bridges:

1. Thathaneri Bridge: The bridge supposed to ease the rail-road crossing on northern banks of River Vaigai. Might qualify for the longest time taken to build award (if ever there was one). It’s more than a decade and still haven’t crossed half-way mark. Current Status: Just the pillars stand aloof with couple of span completed on eastern side. The work above railway track seems to be over.
2. Ellis Nagar Bridge: A main bridge in city center. The 4-lane bridge is built as 2 adjoining bridges. On western side, 2 lanes will start from TB road near Western entry of Railway junction and ends near Periyar bus stand. On the opposite direction, it starts from periyar bus stand and ends in Ellis Nagar Road near Grace Kennett hospital. One half is completed and will soon be opened (April 08?). The other part will languish for some more time.
3. Palanganatham Flyover: It’s a wonder we heard only in newspapers. The design seemed confusing and roads too narrow for adequate shoulder space around the bridge landings. The shifting of Mofussil bus stand from Palanganatham reduced it’s importance. Now, with a proposed new Roundtana at Vasantha Nagar junction, which will be a mere 50m from Palanganatham junction, this project may never see the light.
4. Widening Bye-Pass Road bridges: The bridge near (previously) Natraj Theatre and the one near Theekathir office across River Vaigai were proposed to be widened (read: new bridge by the side of existing bridge). It can be taken up only after Ellis Nagar Bridge is completed and opened to public.

Photo credits (Skyscrapercity forums)

Related posts:

1. Ellis nagar bridge partly opened
2. Shanthi Nagar over bridge is ready at last
3. Infrastructure projects – 4-track roads
4. Shanthi nagar bridge opened without fanfare
5. Railway infrastructure developments around Madurai