CHENNAI: Motorists from OMR no longer need to take Taramani Link Road to travel to Velachery and beyond.
A fourlane road connecting MGR Salai to Velachery MRTS station via Taramani and Perungudi stations will ease their path.
Once work on the road is over, motorists from OMR can get on to MGR Salai at the Thoraipakkam junction, travel for a bit and turn left on to the new road to the Velachery railway station before using Inner Ring Road to join GST Road at OTA junction.
Travel on the 7 km stretch from OMR to OTA junction is expected to reduce by at least 30 minutes and 50% of traffic load from Taramani Link Road.
As part of the road project, a senior Southern Railway official said, work on laying six concrete structures on the subway near MRTS Velachery railway station is on.
Three of the six precast structures have been laid and the other three are getting ready.
The work is expected to be completed in 45 days.
A group of naturalists has stepped in to increase the green cover along the stretch.
S Kumararaja, an activist from Velachery, said Prosopis juliflora (an invasive species) had been cleared along a distance of 1km on the stretch between Taramani MRTS railway station and Velacherry station and several native species planted.
The team had requested the railway contractors to provide excess water for watering the plants, he said.
The team had also written to the railways for permission to lay a path along the one km stretch to benefit walkers in the morning and evenings.
Once work on the road is over, the stretch will be illuminated and can be used for walking even after dark, he added.