Chennai’s Porur metro opening is approaching, but the 8km Poonamallee–Porur High Road below the elevated corridor remains narrow, damaged and difficult to navigate, raising concerns about congestion and road safety when passenger services begin.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay are scheduled to take the inaugural ride on the Chennai Metro Rail Yellow Line between Porur and Poonamallee on October 11. The road connecting the two locations carries at least 10,000 vehicles every hour, according to the report, with motorists facing uneven carriageways, damaged patches and poorly managed U-turns.
The road is not equally usable in both directions. The carriageway from Porur towards Poonamallee is around 20 feet wide in sections where encroachments have been removed and stretches have been relaid after metro construction. In the opposite direction, vehicles are forced onto a narrower carriageway, with the difference in width reaching about five feet at some locations.
At Kattupakkam and Karayanchavadi, portions of the road have been cleared to facilitate widening. However, the extension work remains incomplete, leaving vehicles travelling towards Porur on the existing narrow road. The unfinished sections add to delays during peak hours, particularly as traffic is funnelled through limited road space.
Several stretches between Karayanchavadi and Thelliyaragaram are also reported to be patchy. A large damaged portion has been identified on the Kattupakkam–Iyyappanthangal section, creating an obstacle in the middle of the carriageway. The road has at least 10 U-turns between Porur and the Poonamallee bus stop, some of which are described as poorly regulated.
S Rajamani, secretary of the Small Merchants Welfare Association in Poonamallee, said he and his daughter fell from a bike near Kumananchavadi after trying to avoid a ditch and a car making a sudden U-turn. He said other road users had also experienced narrow escapes.
Residents have raised concerns about traffic management near junctions. M Vinoth Kumar, a resident of Iyyappanthangal, said traffic police were often absent, including at Porur junction. He added that people leaving metro stations could increase crowding on the road once services start.
S Naveen Kumar, an urban transport expert, said road infrastructure needed to be completed alongside the metro project. He said metro stations generate additional pedestrian, feeder-service and private-vehicle movement, and warned that unresolved road widening, junction management and parking issues could worsen existing bottlenecks and increase accident risks.
The road condition highlights the operational link between an elevated metro line and the street network below it. A new station can improve rail connectivity, but passengers still depend on roads, footpaths, junctions, U-turns and feeder access to reach and leave the system safely.
Highways Department officials were unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts, according to the report. The immediate milestone for the corridor is the scheduled inaugural ride on October 11, after which the condition and management of the connecting road will remain central to how commuters experience the new metro service.
