East Coast Road
49
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| East Coast Road கிழக்கு கடற்கரைச்சாலை |
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| Route information | |
| Maintained by Tamil Nadu Road Development Corporation | |
| Length: | 690 km (430 mi) |
| Major junctions | |
| From: | Tiruvanmiyur, Chennai |
| To: | Pondicherry, Karaikal, Ramanathapuram, Kanyakumari |
| Location | |
| Districts: | Chennai, Kanchipuram, Vilupuram, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari |
| Highway system | |
State Highway 49, also known as East Coast Road (ECR) (Tamil:கிழக்கு கடற்கரைச்சாலை) is a two lane highway in Tamil Nadu, India, built along the coast of the Bay of Bengal connecting Tamil Nadu's state capital city Chennai with Cuddalore via Pondicherry. The East Coast Road has been extended up to Kanyakumari via Chidambaram, Sirkali, Akkur, Tharagambadi, Karaikal, Nagore, Nagapattinam, Thiruthuraipoondi, Adirampattinam, Manora, Manamelkudi, Ramanathapuram, Koodankulam, Tuticorin. The total length of the road is about 800 km from Chennai to Kanyakumari.
The highway is a state highway, maintained by the Government of Tamil Nadu under the Department of Highways and Minor Ports. The Central Government expressed plans to convert the highway to a national highway and upgrade it to four lanes from the existing two lanes.
Prior to its completion, the East Coast Road mainly consisted of village roads connecting one fishermen hamlet to another. The connecting link then was the Old Mahabalipuram Road(SH-49A) till Mahabalipuram. Pondicherry was reached from Chennai through the still existent route via Tambaram, Tindivanam along NH45. The road was built in 1998 by interlinking and improving a series of small village roads that connected the fishing villages along the east coast. The idea was to create infrastructure, facilitate inter-state connectivity and boost tourist movement. Within two years, it started showing signs of distress, affecting the quality of rides and safety of motorists. In 2000, the State government signed a concessionaire agreement with the TNRDC in order to improve the road, at a cost of ₹ 60 crore. The 113-km long stretch from Akkarai to Pondicherry, dotted with resorts and beach houses, became a toll facility in March 2002 and was upgraded into a two-lane road from a small winding road passing through 154 villages. In 2010, TNRDC announced that toll collections had reached an all-time high at ₹ 1.08 crore in December 2009 against the ₹ 54.67 lakh collected in April 2002 when toll operations started. In the 10th century AD when the Cholas ruled the whole of Southern India they used this road for Business Supply chain with Southern ports then it was called " Vadugaperuvazhi" in olden day means " The Big way to the North".
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Wikipedia