Road works nearing completion at Seelanaickenpatti junction in Salem

The road development works at Seelanaickenpatti junction here are nearing completion and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is working on laying ‘free left’ lane to further decongest the junction.

The Seelanaickenpatti junction is one of the busiest junctions in Salem and it is located on the Salem – Kanyakumari National Highway. The flyover here is located in the intersection of Salem-Chennai and Salem-Bengaluru National Highway and the flyover has provision only for onward traffic movement for vehicles from Kondalampatti junction on the Salem-Bengaluru Highway towards Ulunderpet and Namakkal. 

Traffic congestion occurs in the Ulundurpettai to Bengaluru stretch often. There is only onward traffic provision for vehicles from Kondalampatti to Namakkal on the flyover and vehicles to Salem from Namakkal have to use Ammapet Bypass road to reach the city. This leads to traffic congestion at the roundabout here during the peak hours.

To decongest the junction, NHAI and Salem City Police introduced new U-turn cuts at the junction and expanded the service road lane from Ulundurpet to Kondalampatti junction. According to NHAI sources, the works to expand the service road lane and increase the height of the median from Seelanaickenpatti-Kondalampatti junction have been almost completed.

Official sources said the height of the median had been increased to prevent motorists from introducing unauthorised cuts on the median for criss-crossing the NH. However, openings had been given at specific location for pedestrians. The entire works were being done at ₹13 crore, the sources said.