[searacer932]

Originally Posted by irdevanand

Hi All,

Got into a nasty traffic jam yesterday night while returning to chennai from Nagercoil. We crossed the last but oneth toll at 7.30PM and the last 33 KMs to my home took me 6 hours !!!!!. Took a detour via uthiremerur etc and then reached the last toll by 1.06 AM and reached home by 1.30 :-)


Regards
Dev

Glad that you and your family reached home safely and you took a smart and sensible decision of calling a cab driver to assist .

However the palar bridge repair has been badly managed by NHAI. Surely they could have planned it better with sufficient notice to all the travelers. They have taken people for granted. I am not sure who is responsible for this mess - NHAI or the State Government. They should be taken to task.

[thanixravindran]

Originally Posted by irdevanand

Hi All,

Got into a nasty traffic jam yesterday night while returning to chennai from Nagercoil. We crossed the last but oneth toll at 7.30PM and the last 33 KMs to my home took me 6 hours !!!!!. Took a detour via uthiremerur etc and then reached the last toll by 1.06 AM and reached home by 1.30 :-)

Regards
Dev

This is covered in yesterday's Times of India Newspaper. Here is the online link. It seems the pain will be there for at least two months. Need to plan any travel carefully till then.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by irdevanand

We crossed the last but oneth toll at 7.30PM and the last 33 KMs to my home took me 6 hours !!!!!. Took a detour via uthiremerur etc and then reached the last toll by 1.06 AM and reached home by 1.30 :-)

Mother of!

Dude, I cannot begin to imagine the pain you must have gone through! What a serious mess man. Shows a total lack of planning by whoever is in charge. This route sees a heck of a traffic during weekends.

I’ve shared this with some of my friends who frequently take this route. Thanks for sharing man.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Hmmm... Our ongoing-plan* visit to Tiruvannamalai is likely to be affected by this, if only the return journey. I must keep an eye on the situation.



*dates keep changing, but will happen by end of this month

[jkrishnakj]

Would the return journey through SriPerumbadur, Kundrathur not make sense? Though a bit longer,

[mazda4life]

All, I am driving to Chennai from Bangalore on monday and return back on tuesday, I am not very familiar on the route and just follow google maps to reach T Nagar, should I be worried on this development?

[thanixravindran]

Originally Posted by mazda4life

All, I am driving to Chennai from Bangalore on monday and return back on tuesday, I am not very familiar on the route and just follow google maps to reach T Nagar, should I be worried on this development?

No, this impacts people coming to Chennai from down south (Villupuram and beyond) in the GST road only. It does not have any impact for people travelling from West (Bangalore) and North (Andhra Pradesh) to Chennai.

[Ponbaarathi]

Had to travel to Trichy today. Right now the palar bridge is open for one way traffic towards Melmaruvathur. On the return leg, i was diverted via Mamandur - Thirumukudal - Athur - Chengalpattu. This route is open only for LMVs and are good overall barring a couple of kms. It hardly took 15 mins extra to the commute time.

[ksmrsm]

For Folks returning to the City, the following route may help in avoiding the traffic jam at the Palar Bridge.

Karunguzhi - Thirukazhukundram - OMR / ECR at Mahabalipuram.

Or

Thindivanam - Pondy - ECR - A little detour but will avoid the traffic pile up that may happen at Palar Bridge.

These routes can also be used to go from Chennai to South TN.

[RGK]

Originally Posted by mazda4life

should I be worried on this development?

You need not worry about this as you will be reaching T Nagar via Sriperampudur, Poonamallee, Porur, Guindy and T Nagar....

I wrote an email to NHAI and govt authorities on this diversion planning.

From: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2022 at 10:41 AM
Subject: —NH 45 DIVERSION PLANNING & EXECUTION-
To: kishorekumar13893@gmail.com <kishorekumar13893@gmail.com>, mschaithanya@nhaii.org <mschaithanya@nhaii.org>, somashekarsp@nhai.org <somashekarsp@nhai.org>
Cc: Ram Sundaram <Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com>, cs@tn.gov.in <cs@tn.gov.in>, prashantkhodaskar@nhai.org <prashantkhodaskar@nhai.org>, transec@tn.gov.in <transec@tn.gov.in>

We have once again proved that we are poor planners in the infrastructure side. When there is a major civic problem in the Palar bridge (NH 45) we should have planned the alternate routes/roads well in advance and diverted the traffic. The diversion goes through the various villages and fields and there is a chance of road block there also. The village roads are narrow and if there is a slow moving vehicle the entire traffic becomes slow.

1. We should have created a better alternate road infrastructure and then allowed the diversion.

I. Narrow roads should be strengthened in the edges (this is risky as the roads are not designed for continuous high load vehicles and the soil is loose )
II. Regular inspection should be done on the alternate roads till the work is completed and the NH45 is restored
III. Overtaking bay to be created atleast once in 2 kms to facilitate buses and other LMV to pass faster
IV. Directions should be very clear (few boards are there at present)
V. Proper lighting to be provided at important junctions to help in case of vehicle breakdown or puncture

2. 2 to 3 months of diversion of an important road may look a shorter period, but the intensity of the traffic is huge and NH45 is the connecting road for all southern districts
3. Please try to explore and add a few more alternate routes on the eastern side as well.(just an example: Chennai – ECR – Thenpakkam – Tindivanam etc..)
4. Regular updates o the progress of the bridge work need to be updated
5. Toll at Paranur toll plaza should be discontinued or the toll at Athur toll plaza should be reduced till the work is completed

Hope NHAI acts fast on the request and do the needful with the help of the TN Government.

Thanks and Regards

NB: The email ids are available in the public domain and hence not masked.

This is the updated today's news in the local Tamil daily. Time for TN Highways Dept & NHAI authorities to act immediately.

https://www.dinamalar.com/news_detail.asp?id=2962425

[ns94]

Hi all,

Thanks for all your updates on the Palar bridge issue.

A couple of quick queries:

1. Is there traffic issue while exiting Chennai and going towards Trichy?
2. Road condition from Madurantakam -> Thirukazhukundram (Destination: Thiruvanmiyur) (vaguely remember seeing a news article somewhere that a bridge on this route was also weak)

TIA

[thanixravindran]

Originally Posted by ns94

Hi all,

Thanks for all your updates on the Palar bridge issue.

A couple of quick queries:

1. Is there traffic issue while exiting Chennai and going towards Trichy?
2. Road condition from Madurantakam -> Thirukazhukundram (Destination: Thiruvanmiyur) (vaguely remember seeing a news article somewhere that a bridge on this route was also weak)

TIA

1. No issues as of last weekend for exiting Chennai and going towards Trichy.
2. I don't know as I have not traveled in those stretches. For Thiruvanmiyur, you can check whether you can branch off at Tindivanam itself and reach Marakkanam and continue in ECR.

[sgmuser]

ok, I almost caught on this jam on the 1st week of February. We started from Chennai Airport around 3pm or so after I landed around 1.30pm. Brother did not expect me to come out so fast as I had no checked in baggage. So, the plan to escape the evening traffic flopped. When we exited Chennai and closing on Chengalpattu around 4 or so, the Google Maps showed RED for a long stretch around that bridge across Palar river and I was not sure what was the issue. Brother was also not sure and he directed us towards Mahindra City entry and we took the plunge. That road actually takes us to ECR around Kalpakkam. But it is a single track and in very bad condition for few kilometers due to the crazy rains last year for few kilometers. I was really annoyed that I am loosing lots of time and we should have taken the highway, as I need to be in the destination by at least 7 or 8pm. Now, I understand, how bad it would have been, if we had chosen the highway route. Lucky us, now I believe. It was showing around 1 and half hour delay in that route. While we returned on the 7th Feb, there was nothing in that bridge though!

[RGK]

Originally Posted by ns94

Hi all,

1. Is there traffic issue while exiting Chennai and going towards Trichy?
2. Road condition from Madurantakam -> Thirukazhukundram (Destination: Thiruvanmiyur) (vaguely remember seeing a news article somewhere that a bridge on this route was also weak)
TIA

The Chennai - Trichy traffic is routed through the oncoming highway (bridge) and there is no disruption.

Yes. the bridge is weak and there is a police check post. Two-wheelers, Cars are allowed whereas heavy vehicles are not allowed.

[MikeRX]

I suffered the same ordeal last week though it only took me an extra hour (for which I was obviously furious since 550kms took me 6hrs whereas it took an hour just to cross a bridge). But considering the pain you went through and the sad state of bridge, both sides, I think it would be better to take ECR from either Tindivanam or Melmarauvathur.

And one can only hazard a guess as to when the other side of the bridge will be closed for traffic!

Originally Posted by mazda4life

All, I am driving to Chennai from Bangalore on monday and return back on tuesday, I am not very familiar on the route and just follow google maps to reach T Nagar, should I be worried on this development?

You should be safe. This is only on route between Chennai and Trichy. The Bangalore -Chennai highway does not touch this point.