Of the few busy roads in the city which are to be taken up for widening, San Thome High Road may well be the first to fall under this civic project of Chennai Corporation.
But there are at least two big challenges that the civic body has to deal with.
The existence of a handful of heritage places off this road – St. Bede’s School, San Thome Cathedral, Bishop’s House and Church of St Augustine inside San Thome school campus.
The bigger issue is of land acquisition on what is a thickly inhabited zone.
The location of at least eight large schools on/off this road and the link that it provides with busy residential and commercial parts of the city has made this a road that is busy from dawn to dusk and beyond.
Accquiring the land required to broaden the road is bound to face roadblocks.
Property owners whose land must be acquired can get what is called Development Rights Certificate (DRC) that allows them to enjoy better FSI value for other properties thay may possess or develop later.
But before this happens land owners must be convinced to part with parcels of land.
The stretch of this road from south of the Light House to the Foreshore Estate junction is to be broadened.
During peak hours now, south bound traffic is diverted to the seaside road that runs along the beach. But since hundreds of shanties line this stretch, driving down this road presents other dangers.
