NHAI urged to fast-track widening of Neelambur-Madukkarai bypass stretch in Coimbatore

Coimbatore: City industrialists have urged the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to expedite the long-pending widening of Neelambur-Madukkarai bypass stretch on NH-544, citing rising traffic congestion and frequent accidents on the 27km corridor.J Sathish, director, Kongu Global Forum, said the Salem-Kochi National Highway was a crucial route for the motorists travelling between Bengaluru and Kerala via Coimbatore. While the Neelambur-Sengapalli and Madukkarai-Walayar stretches have already been widened into six lanes, the Neelambur-Madukkarai section remains a two-lane road, creating a major bottleneck and posing safety risks for commuters. According to him, the 27km stretch has several busy intersections, including Pattanam, Trichy Road, Pollachi Road, Chettipalayam, Madukkarai and Palathurai, where the absence of adequate signals, grade separators and bridges has made travel hazardous. "Accidents on this stretch have become a daily occurrence. We have been demanding widening work for more than 10 years, but there has been no visible progress." The bypass stretch was taken over by NHAI from the state highways wing on June 1, 2025, for further development, improvement and capacity augmentation. The move had raised hopes among the residents and industrialists that the road would soon be upgraded into a six-lane carriageway. However, Sathish said there had been no significant progress even a year after the takeover. He had in April end submitted a petition through the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System, seeking an update on the project. In its reply, NHAI's Project Implementation Unit in Coimbatore said a detailed project report for widening the bypass into a six-lane carriageway was under preparation. The study covers traffic assessment, identification of accident-prone locations and black spots, junction improvement proposals, service roads, drainage, pedestrian safety measures and utility assessments. NHAI said the project would be taken up for implementation after completion of the detailed project report and after obtaining approvals from the competent authority and the Union govt, subject to statutory clearances and availability of funds. Sathish said the delay was worrying, especially since land acquisition was not a major hurdle as the required land was acquired decades ago. He urged NHAI to fast-track the project in the interest of public safety and the city's growth.