Chennai Roads Choke as Key Highway Expansion Projects Remain Shelved for Years
North Chennai’s long-pending road expansion plans have once again hit a dead end, with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) deciding to hand over crucial stretches to the State Highways Department. The move effectively stalls long-delayed projects aimed at easing congestion on some of the city’s busiest arterial roads, particularly the Madhavaram–Nallur toll gate corridor.
The 10.3-km Madhavaram–Cholavaram stretch, which witnesses a daily traffic load of over 90,000 passenger cars, qualifies for a 10-lane highway under Indian Roads Congress standards. Yet, for over a decade, it has remained a narrow four-lane route, primarily due to land acquisition hurdles and persistent opposition from traders along the alignment. The resulting gridlock has turned this stretch into one of Chennai’s most notorious choke points.A similar fate befell the 22-km stretch between Padi and Thiruninravur, where the proposal for a six-lane highway was abandoned in 2012.
The route, vital for freight and passenger traffic bound for Tirupati and Andhra Pradesh, continues to experience daily congestion. Plans to construct a six-lane elevated corridor between Madhavaram and Nallur toll gate were also indefinitely postponed, leaving the region’s commuters and logistics operators in a constant struggle with bottlenecks.According to senior officials, NHAI had prepared a Detailed Project Report (DPR) in 2018 to eliminate seven major accident-prone spots through the proposed 10.2-km elevated corridor.
The project was estimated at ₹1,893 crore and required limited land acquisition about two hectares of government land and 1.8 hectares of private land. However, the proposed route intersected the regulatory boundary of an archaeologically sensitive megalithic site within the Puzhal prison compound, forcing NHAI to seek clearances from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Despite multiple appeals, the required no-objection certificate never materialised.
Officials have now confirmed that the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will soon “de-entrust” the section to the state, which will decide whether to revive the plan for an elevated corridor. Meanwhile, the section remains a commuter nightmare vehicles travelling from Madhavaram towards Tada reportedly take 70 to 90 minutes to cover a mere 10 km during peak hours.Local industrial bodies and residents’ associations have criticised what they term “administrative inertia.”
They argue that while projects such as the ₹5,570 crore Chennai Port–Maduravoyal Elevated Expressway and the ₹1,241 crore Maduravoyal–Poonamallee corridor move forward in the city’s core, North Chennai’s infrastructure remains ignored.Experts say that until the State Highways Department takes proactive steps to revive these shelved projects, congestion will continue to cripple mobility and economic productivity in the northern suburbs. For now, the region’s road network stands as a stark reminder of how policy delays, inter-agency friction, and local resistance can derail vital urban infrastructure.
