Tn Justifies Demand For Nhai Grant For Chennai Expressway

The Tamil Nadu transport department has drawn up a report to justify the 40 per cent grant from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for the proposed Rs 486 crore expressway in Chennai.

The proposed elevated expressway will link two key national highways NH4 (Chennai-Bangalore) and NH45 (Chennai-Trichy) with the port. NHAI normally stays away from projects in metropolitan cities.

The four-lane 18-km expressway is proposed as a measure to decongest the citys inner roads besides facilitating efficient trade as traffic from the Calcutta highway travelling to the Chennai port will also use the proposed expressway.

According to a study, the traffic flow on the three arterial north-south roads of the city Anna Salai (NH45), Beach Road (NH45) and Poonamallee High Road (NH4) have reached a saturation level of 60,000 PCUs.

 

These highways, which connect residential and business districts, are frequently used by local traffic. This slows down the movement of long-distance traffic.

The signal cycle time taken at 18 intersection points have averaged over 3.5 minutes, which is well above the norm of 2 minutes. This is mainly because of long-distance traffic and city commuters use the same road network.

The differences in unit vehicle operating cost and travel time cost compared to the present route and the proposed expressway is significant. For instance, vehicle operating cost for trucks is expected to come down from about Rs 7.6 per kilometre to Rs 4.58 per km.

While the average speed increases from 18 to 50 kms per hour, the value of travel time for trucks is projected to decline from Rs 1.27 per km to a mere Rs 0.46 per km.

The internal rate of return for the project without the NHAI grant is 10.1 per cent. This has been calculated on the basis of existing traffic volumes of 42,234 PCUs and a toll of about Rs 3.05 per km for trucks over a 30-year period.

Officials say the broader economic rate of return parameter, which also takes into account social benefits accruing from the project, is projected at an attractive 27.38 per cent. This justifies the 40 per cent capital grant funding, the government claims.