The State Highways Department, which is executing the multi‑crore project, confirmed that pillar construction on the 24‑metre‑spaced bridge is well underway, with only four or five pillars left to erect.
Assistant Engineer D. Mohanraj of the Vellore State Highways office told The Hindu that the new two‑lane bridge will provide safe, uninterrupted access for motorists to nearby towns and arterial routes, and is slated to be ready by the end of December.
The overbridge, approved in 2009, is a joint effort of Southern Railway and the State Highways Department under the Railway Works Programme 2008‑09, and is being funded by the Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.
Spanning 767.34 metres in length and 12 metres in width, the bridge will feature at least 50 LED streetlights, tiled footpaths with steel hand‑railings, and staircases that will link directly to Vellore Town railway station. Approach roads of roughly 300 metres will be built on each side.
Local residents say the structure will end a regular five‑kilometre detour that drivers, ambulances and government buses currently endure because the existing level crossing (LC 128) is closed for long periods when express trains pass.
With the monsoon season approaching, officials have accelerated work on the remaining pillars to avoid any delay, aiming to keep the December deadline intact.
Once operational, the bridge will connect central Vellore with the Chennai‑Bengaluru National Highway (NH 48) and streamline mofussil bus services to Tirupattur, Krishnagiri, Salem and Hosur.