The construction on the double-tier elevated corridor that will link Chennai Port and Maduravoyal has accelerated. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has set out a clearer construction schedule and scaling up precast production to keep the project moving through the monsoon.
NHAI has pegged completion at November 2027 for the 20.9-km, four-lane corridor, being built at a cost of over ₹3,500 crore. The project, first initiated in 2010 and later terminated in 2016, was restarted in 2023 following requests from the State government and Chennai Port Trust.
The corridor is planned as a two-level structure. The lower deck is intended for local city traffic, with 13 ramps to disperse vehicles along the stretch between the port side and Koyambedu. NHAI has identified ramp connections at locations including Sivananda Salai, College Road, Spur Tank Road and Koyambedu. The upper deck is designed as a freight route, meant to carry heavy port-bound vehicles and containers directly to Chennai Port Gate-10, reducing interaction with city traffic. NHAI has also said the corridor will include cable-stayed bridge sections at major junctions, including near Napier Bridge.
To speed up execution, the agency is relying heavily on precast construction. It has set up large casting yards, including an 80-acre facility at EVP Film City, to produce more than 500 precast concrete segments a month. Once piers are ready, the segments are to be assembled using launching girders, reducing the need to work in the riverbed. NHAI has indicated that launching operations are expected to begin within weeks.
On the ground, work is already running into the night. NHAI says construction is currently being carried out for 11 hours a day (five hours in the day and six at night), and it has sought permission from State authorities and the Police Commissioner to extend shifts to 16 hours a day.
The corridor’s progress is being watched closely because it is tied to freight movement in and out of the port. The Chennai Port Authority crossed 50 million metric tonnes of cargo handled for FY 2025–26 by February 12, reaching the mark earlier than the previous year. The same update reported 1.67 million TEUs handled up to February 11, a year-on-year rise of around 7%, with containers accounting for 32.27 MMT of the total cargo handled so far.
NHAI’s longer-range projection links the corridor to future capacity: it has stated that the corridor will support a rise in port cargo handling capacity from the current 53 million tonnes (MTPA) to an estimated 200 MTPA by 2047.
In the same statement, NHAI also placed the corridor within a wider highway investment picture for the State, noting over ₹60,000 crore spent on highway infrastructure in Tamil Nadu over the past decade, with projects worth ₹40,000 crore under active implementation and DPRs for future projects worth ₹1 lakh crore prepared.
For motorists and commuters, the next visible milestone will be the start of launching work and the pace at which piers and segments begin to close gaps along the alignment.
