One of Chennai’s key road infrastructure projects is taking shape on Anna Salai, with a 3.2 km elevated corridor being constructed over an operational underground Metro tunnel. The project, designed to ease congestion between Teynampet and Saidapet, is now around 70 per cent complete.
The four-lane corridor is being built using prefabricated steel components and is expected to offer a faster alternative to the heavily congested stretch of Anna Salai. Around 2.4 km of the 3.2 km corridor will run at ground level above the underground Metro tunnel, including a 460-metre section passing over Teynampet and Nandanam Metro stations. With the tunnel lying 14–15 metres below Anna Salai, engineers have limited foundation drilling to around seven metres to minimise impact on Metro operations.
Once complete, the corridor is expected to cut travel time between Teynampet and Saidapet from around 30 minutes to roughly five minutes, while easing congestion at seven major junctions including Eldams Road, Cenotaph Road and CIT Nagar.
Around 15,000 tonnes of steel components, piers, pier caps and girders, are being manufactured at facilities in Gujarat and Telangana before transport to Chennai for assembly. Construction has faced delays due to labour shortages, with workers involved in fabrication returning to their hometowns and not immediately resuming work, while site construction remains limited to around six hours nightly.
Motorists will continue to face traffic diversions due to ongoing construction alongside Metro Phase-II works along Anna Salai.
