CleanupBot II at 22:45, 13 August 2023

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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2018}}
The total road network in the city's [[Chennai Metropolitan Area|metropolitan area]] is 2,780 km. With Chennai's vehicular population having experienced a surge in the late 1990s, several [[Overpass|flyovers]] were built to reduce the traffic congestion in the city, thus making it the City of Flyovers. Of about {{INR}} 15,600 million invested by the [[Government of Tamil Nadu|state government]] between 2005 and 2014, Chennai cornered a major chunk of the investment.<ref name="Hindu_CaseAgainstFlyovers"/> As of 2017, there are 35 functional flyovers in the city<ref name="TOI_ChennaiToGetMoreFlyovers">{{cite news
| last = Hemalatha
| first = Karthikeyan
| title = Chennai set to get more flyovers
| newspaper = The Times of India
| location = Chennai
| publisher = The Times Group
| date = 18 July 2014
| url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-set-to-get-more-flyovers/articleshow/38624657.cms
| access-date = 14 December 2014}}</ref> and around 150 bridges including 12 rail over bridges,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chennaicorporation.gov.in/departments/bridges/BridgesList.html|title=Welcome to Greater Chennai Corporation|website=www.chennaicorporation.gov.in|access-date=2017-06-13}}</ref> catering to the city's vehicular population of about 5.3 million, including about 1.2 million cars. In addition, more than 36 flyovers are in the pipeline.<ref name="TOI_ChennaiToGetMoreFlyovers"/>

==Beginnings==
The city's first flyover is the [[Anna Flyover]] at the Gemini Circle built in 1973, which was the third in India, after the ones at [[Kemps Corner]] and [[Marine Drive, Mumbai|Marine Drive]] in [[Mumbai]]. It was also the longest flyover in the country when it was built.<ref name="FlyoverWallMended">{{cite news
| last = Ramakrishnan
| first = Deepa H.
| title = Flyover wall mended after 3 days
| newspaper = The Hindu
| location = Chennai
| date = 1 July 2012
| url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article3589297.ece
| access-date = 5 Jul 2012}}</ref> No major flyovers were built in the following 20 years or so. The number of flyovers in the city began to rise in the late 1990s when a string of nine flyovers were built across the city during the tenure of the then Mayor of the city, [[M. K. Stalin]].<ref name="Hindu_CaseAgainstFlyovers">{{cite news
| last = Sreevatsan
| first = Ajai
| title = The case against flyovers
| newspaper = The Hindu
| location = Chennai
| date = 6 October 2014
| url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/the-case-against-flyovers/article6473629.ece
| access-date = 14 December 2014}}</ref>

==Road space==
As of 1 April 2013, the total vehicle population of Chennai is 3,881,850, including 3,053,233 two wheelers.<ref>{{cite news
|last = Sasidharan
|first = S.
|title = 1.4 cr 2-wheelers ply on TN roads
|newspaper = Deccan Chronicle
|location = Chennai
|date = 10 April 2013
|url = http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130410/news-current-affairs/article/14-cr-2-wheelers-ply-tn-roads
|archive-url = https://archive.is/20130629002608/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130410/news-current-affairs/article/14-cr-2-wheelers-ply-tn-roads
|url-status = dead
|archive-date = 29 June 2013
|access-date = 13 April 2013
}}</ref>

The flyover construction in the city has resulted in the addition of a mere 12.4 km of extra road capacity between 2005 and 2014. As of 2014, the total length of operational flyovers in the city was 13.5 km.<ref name="Hindu_CaseAgainstFlyovers"/>

==List of flyovers==
#[[Anna Flyover]]
#MIT Flyover
#Alwarpet Flyover
#IIT Madras Flyover
#Doveton Flyover
#Perambur Flyover
#[[Madhuravoyal grade separator]]
#[[Padi grade separator]]
#[[Koyambedu grade separator]]
#[[Kathipara grade separator]]
#Tambaram flyover
#Peters Road flyover
#Conran Smith Road flyover
#Dr. Radhakrishnan Road flyover
#Music Academy flyover
#Panagal Park flyover
#TTK Road flyover
#Mahalingapuram flyover
#Pantheon Road flyover
#Thirumangalam flyover
#Moolakkadai flyover
#Vandalur flyover
#[[Chennai Airport Flyover|Airport flyover]]
#[[Pallavaram Flyover]]
#Pallavaram Railway Station Flyover
#Pallavaram New Unidirectional Flyover
#Vyasarpadi flyover
#Mint flyover
#G N Chetty Road flyover
#Velachery Taramani Road - Kamakshi Hospital Junction flyover
#Medavakkam Junction flyover
#Keelkattalai flyover
#Tambaram Sanitorium (Bharatha Matha Street) flyover
#Kilkattalai - Pallavaram Radial Road Junction flyover
#[[Velachery Junction flyover]]
#Vadapalani Junction flyover
#Porur flyover
#Anna Arch flyover - Arumbakkam
# Anna Arch flyover Aminjikarai
#Koyambedu CMBT flyover

==Criticism==
Between 2005 and 2014, the state government has spent over {{INR}}15,590 million erecting flyovers and grade separators, of which {{INR}}11,440 million (88%) was invested in Chennai. The city hosts all 21 elevated urban corridors open to traffic in the state in 2014.<ref name="Hindu_CaseAgainstFlyovers"/>

In the late 1990s, a Traffic Action Plan was prepared for the city. It is said the brain behind the traffic action plan was the [[Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers]] (SIAM), which organised seminars in hotels and conducted traffic studies and public opinion surveys. The investments made by the automobile industry resulted in an increase in the city's per capita ownership of cars, which by 2012 was second in the country, behind New Delhi.<ref name="Hindu_CaseAgainstFlyovers"/>

Various global studies indicate that flyovers and elevated roads tend to "induce" new traffic because of the apparent extra road space, and this held true in the case of Chennai, according to experts. The number of vehicles on Chennai's roads had increased dramatically since the late 1990s, resulting in regular traffic snarls.<ref name="Hindu_CaseAgainstFlyovers"/>

Critics also say that, despite costing 4 to 5 times a normal road, flyovers do not resolve the problem of traffic congestion. For the {{INR}}15,500 million spent between 2005 and 2014 by the state government, critics opine that the government could instead have invested in buying about 7,000 public transport buses or laid more than 2,000 km of dedicated cycle lanes or built an extensive bus rapid transit system covering about 150 km.<ref name="Hindu_CaseAgainstFlyovers"/>

==New projects==
Thirteen more flyover projects have been announced by the state government: Kattupakkam, Akkarai, Ambattur, Avadi, Madhavaram, Ramapuram, Kundrathur, Kaiveli, Selaiyur, Korattur, Vadapalani-P.T. Rajan Salai junction, Madhya Kailash and Madipakkam.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

== See also ==
* [[Transport in Chennai]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Chennai Topics|left}}
{{Transport in Chennai}}
{{Transport in Tamil Nadu}}
{{Transport in India}}

[[Category:Bridges and flyovers in Chennai]]
[[Category:Chennai-related lists]]

Flyovers in Chennai - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 22:45, 13 August 2023