Driving Progress: Rajiv Gandhi Salai OMR's Role in Chennai's Growth




The great OMR in Chennai was renamed Rajiv Gandhi Salai also called Rajiv Gandhi IT Expressway or IT Expressway. If visiting Chennai never forget to travel through this beautiful IT Hub with massive buildings on either side and the wider road to enjoy the drive to Mahabalipuram. Night outs and early morning drives can be delightful as the roads will be free from traffic and can explore the night lights of the city. This is a state highway 49A hence the roads are much wider compared to the city roads.

The road starts from Madhya Kailash on Sardar Patel Road in southeast Chennai and terminates at Mahabalipuram. This is an alternate route to ECR. This road is home to Tidel Park, NIFT, many IT companies, educational Institutes, Hotels, etc.

Until the 60s in the 20th century, it was not considered to be an IT Hub as now but a tough journey to reach the shore temple. Roads were so poor that it was a tough task for the people to travel in them.

From Tirukazhukundram to Mahabs the road was said to be a disaster that one had to take a boat through the famous Buckingham Canal to complete their journey

The boat ride later became less effective because of the construction of the road.
In 1998 East Coast Road was constructed and completed and people opted to use this new road to reach Mahabalipuram thus Mahabalipuram Road became Old Mahabalipuram Road.

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