The Hindu Business Line : Baalu asks for feasibility study on Coimbatore by-pass

THE Union Minister for Transport and Shipping, Mr T.R. Baalu, has asked a feasibility study be done for a by-pass linking the Coimbatore-Salem National Highway with the Coimbatore-Mysore and Coimbatore-Mettupalayam National Highways.

Speaking to newsmen here, he said the Nilambur by-pass was a half circle linking two important NH 47 segments — Coimbatore-Salem and Coimbatore-Palakkad — outside the city. The road for which he has asked for the feasibility study would extend the half circle beyond Tudialur on Coimbatore-Mettupalayam NH after passing through the Coimbatore-Mysore road.

While the Minister's decision provides a breather to the harried road users in Coimbatore, it does not fully meet their demand for a circular by- pass road around the city since a crucial link connecting Coimbatore-Udhagamandalam highway with the Coimbatore-Palakkad highway to complete the circular by-pass would still be missing.

The laying of the Nilambur by-pass on a BOT basis by L&T, for a distance of 27.76 km as part of the Rs 105-crore Coimbatore by-pass project, has helped relieve traffic congestion in the city, but only to an extent. The by-pass linked the Salem-Coimbatore stretch of NH 47 with the Coimbatore-Palakkad stretch of NH 47 and passed through two important highways - the Coimbatore-Tiruchi and Coimbatore-Pollachi roads.