Rail overbridge at Palayakadu in Tiruppur city, taken up for construction 11 years ago, thrown open for traffic 

Relief for public as Tiruppur's Palayakkadu rail overbridge opens after decade of construction.

The rail overbridge at Palayakkadu along Tiruppur-Vavipalayam road in the city was opened for vehicular traffic, more than a decade after the construction work was initiated by the Highways Department, much to the relief of the public.

Minister for Public Works (Buildings, Highway and Minor Ports) E.V. Velu inaugurated the bridge by flagging off passage of vehicles on Friday in the presence of Minister for Information and Publicity M.P. Saminathan, Adi Dravidar Welfare Minister N. Kayalvizhi Selvaraj, and Mayor N. Dinesh Kumar. Additional Chief Secretary of Highways Department Pradeep Yadav, District Collector T. Christuraj and other senior officials were present.

The Government Order for the project was issued on July 6, 2012, and the work commenced on December 5, 2012, at an expenditure of ₹48.26 crore. The project got delayed due to problems in land acquisition. Also, the project was tweaked for bringing about additional road width, and approach roads, officials said.

The 12-metre wide and nearly 525 metre long bridge that straddles Tiruppur South and North Assembly segments was constructed with the funding by NABARD and Rural Roads Division of the Highways Department.

The deck slab on railway portion is close to 30 metre. There are 31 deck slabs of 15 metre length and one deck slab of 35 metre length on the highways portion.

So far, the railway-level crossing between Tiruppur and Uthukuli stations where there were 78 crossings every day used to be a bottleneck, and would witness lengthy queues of vehicles on either sides for most part of the day.

The overbridge has obviated the need for motorists to take the Uthukuli Road towards New Bus Stand and Perumanallur Road. This will lead to saving on time and fuel. There will be distance reduction to the extent of three km, according to officials.