Road over the Sengipatti vehicular underpass on national highway reopened to two-way traffic

The VUP at Sengipatti on Tiruchi-Thanjavur NH has been reopened for two-way traffic.
| Photo Credit: R. Vengadesh

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has reopened the main carriageway over the vehicular underpass (VUP) at Sengipatti on the Tiruchi-Thanjavur National Highway to two-way traffic.

The carriageway was reopened after completion of the rectification work on the approach road to the underpass. “All the repair works have been completed and two-way traffic resumed on the VUP from Monday,” sources in the NHAI told The Hindu.

On June 20 last year, some of the facia panels on the southern side of the flyover near the Sengipatti bus stop collapsed. Following this, traffic on the stretch was suspended and vehicles were diverted to the service lanes as a precautionary measure.

With the underpass being situated at an important junction on the Tiruchi-Thanjavur National Highway, with roads from Budalur in the north and Gandharvakottai in the south converging at the spot, severe traffic congestion was witnessed because of the closure of the VUP.

The NHAI had taken up repairs based on the recommendations of the three-member expert panel, comprising faculty members of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) – Madras and the National Institute of Technology (NIT)-Tiruchi. The team, after inspecting the damaged portion, submitted a report with its suggestions on the remedial steps to be taken up.

As the work was under way, severe traffic congestion was witnessed on the service lanes, much to the dismay of road users.

In December, one-way traffic (from Thanjavur to Tiruchi) was allowed on one of the carriageways over the underpass after the completion of the rectification work on one side where the facia panels had moved out of alignment. The repair work on the damaged facia panels on the other side was taken up subsequently. The work has been completed on both sides of the service roads.