Drive from Chennai to Tirupati to get quicker by
45 minutes from September
https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/states/tamil-nadu/2025/Aug/09/drive-
from-chennai-to-tirupati-to-get-quicker-by-45-minutes-from-september
Official sources from the NHAI said the entire 62-km stretch from
Thiruninravur to Tirupati will be an access-controlled (fully fenced)
four-lane road.
Tamil Nadu
The design also includes provisions to expand the
Thiruninravur-Tiruvallur bypass section into six lanes
in the future, without requiring additional land
acquisition.
B Anbuselvan
Updated:9th Aug, 2025 at 8:06 AM
CHENNAI: Travel time between Chennai and Tirupati is set to come
down by 30 to 45 minutes, as the four-laning of the 18-km greenfield
highway between Thiruninravur and Tiruvallur is set to be completed
by September.
The under-construction four-lane highway connects the Tiruvallur
Bypass at Thirupachur with the Veppampattu Bypass at Thiruninravur
on the Chennai-Tirupati Highway, passing through Thaneerkulam,
Thozhur, and Sevvapet.
As of August 1, 15 km out of the total 18 km stretch has been
completed. Once the widening project is completed, the 18-km stretch
will be made an access-controlled, fully fenced national highway, with
service roads provided on both sides, according to officials from
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
The new stretch will allow motorists travelling towards Tiruttani and
Tirupati to bypass Tiruvallur town and Veppampattu areas — one of
the most congested parts of the Chennai-Tirupati Highway (CTH). It
will also help them avoid the narrow and heavily congested
Thiruninravur-Tiruvallur section, where the road shrinks to just two
lanes at several points.
Official sources from the NHAI said the entire 62-km stretch from
Thiruninravur to Tirupati will be an access-controlled (fully fenced)
four-lane road with service roads on both sides. The widening project
was taken up in 2022 at a cost of Rs 304 crore.
The design also includes provisions to expand the Thiruninravur-
Tiruvallur bypass section into six lanes in the future, without
requiring additional land acquisition. Simultaneously, the four-laning
of the 44-km Tiruvallur to Tamil Nadu-Andhra border stretch of CTH
was also launched last year at an estimated cost of Rs 750 crore.
A senior NHAI official stated, “The four-laning of the 44-km stretch
from Thirupachur (Tiruvallur) to Tirupati is currently under way, with
service roads planned on either side. The work has just begun, and
about 12% has been completed so far.”
The Chennai-Tirupati Highway, which commences at the Padi-Korattur
junction, currently has four lanes for 22 km until Thiruninravur, and
the same had been proposed to be widened into six lanes by the state
highways department. However, the works remain a non-starter due
to issues in land acquisition.
S Ramesh Varadhan, a Korattur resident, said, “It takes almost two
hours to reach Tiruvallur from Korattur due to speed breakers every
200 metres along CTH Road. Traffic congestion is constant through
Avadi, Ambattur, Pattabiram, and Thiruninravur. TN should construct
an elevated corridor from Padi to Thiruninravur to ease travel to
Tirupati.”
1 Connects: Tiruvallur Bypass at Thirupachur with the Veppampattu
Bypass at Thiruninravur on the Chennai-Tirupati Highway
2 Bypasses: Heavily-congested Tiruvallur town and Veppampattu
areas and Thiruninravur-Tiruvallur section
3 TRAVEL TIME: 2-hour travel from Padi to Tiruvallur (35kms)
reduced by 30 mins
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