Anna Flyover, also known as Gemini Flyover, is a dual-armed

grade separator In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tra ...

in the central business district of

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, India. Built in 1973 and dubbed one of the top-rated flyovers in the country, it is Asia's First Grade Separator, the first flyover in Chennai and the third Flyover in India, after the ones at

Kemps Corner Kemps Corner is an upmarket neighbourhood in South Mumbai. It is flanked by Altamount Road on one side and Malabar Hill on the other. It lies at the intersection of Breach Candy, Warden Road, Pedder Road and Nepean Sea Road Nepean Sea Ro ...

and

Marine Drive Marine Drive may refer to: Roads Bangladesh * Cox Bazar-Tekhnaf Marine Drive, world's longest marine drive road. Canada *Marine Drive (Nova Scotia), a scenic route in Nova Scotia * Marine Drive (Greater Vancouver), a number of roadways in Metro ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. It was the longest flyover in the country when it was built. Its main purpose is to allow traffic movement on Mount Road—now renamed

Anna Salai Anna Salai (), formerly known as St. Thomas Mount Road or simply Mount Road, is an arterial road in Chennai, India. It starts at the Cooum Creek, south of Fort St George, leading in a south-westerly direction towards St. Thomas Mount, and end ...

—near Nungambakkam High Road (Mahatma Gandhi Salai) to continue unhindered by the cross traffic. The presence of the

Gemini Studios Gemini Studios was an Indian film studio based in Madras, Tamil Nadu. It was launched when S. S. Vasan, a businessman of many ventures (including the ownership of Ananda Vikatan) bought Motion Picture Producers' Combines from Krishnaswamy Subr ...

, which was demolished later, resulted in the flyover coming to be known as Gemini Flyover and the area being referred to as the Gemini Circle. On two sides of the circle roundabout below the centre of the flyover are two identical statues of a man controlling a horse placed there to commemorate the banning of

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

. Anna Flyover has been beautified with other elements such as water fountains, landscaping of its traffic islands, cove lighting under the traffic movement area, restoration of the horse statue, a toilet for the police personnel, murals depicting social messages, and so forth.

History and design

Anna flyover was constructed in 1973 by East Coast Construction and Industries in 21 months at a cost of 6.6 million and was opened to traffic on 1 July 1973. The architects of the flyover had made provision for its extension, if necessary, on either side. Not much has changed since its design in the 1970s, which was said to have been approved by a committee comprising senior officials and experts. The original lighting has been changed though. The flyover is 500 m long.

Landmarks

This Equestrian horse statue was sculpted by the Late.Sri M.N.Jayaram Nagappa son of the great sculptor Rao Bahadur M S Nagappa and brother of Sri M N Mani Nagappa who is also a world-renowned sculptor. Before climbing Anna Flyover (when heading in the direction towards the airport) to the left are the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

and the

U.S. Consulate The United States has the second most Diplomatic mission, diplomatic missions of any country in the world List of diplomatic missions of China, after Mainland China, including 166 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, as well as obse ...

, and to the right one can find the remains of the old

Safire Theatre complex The Safire Theatre complex was India's first largest multi-theatre complex located in the southern city of Chennai that functioned from 1964 to 1994. The theatre complex was located on Mount Road (now Anna Salai) and consisted of three screeni ...

. Gemini studio has been demolished and a shopping complex called Parson Manor and a 5-star deluxe hotel called The Park have been built in its place. Opposite to these across the flyover lies the

Semmozhi Poonga Semmozhi Poonga, variously spelled as Semmoli Poonga (literally translated to "Classical Language Park"), is a botanical garden in Chennai set up jointly by the Horticulture and Agricultural Engineering department of the Government of Tamil Na ...

, the 20-acre, 80-million botanical garden constructed by the horticultural department.

Traffic

In the 1970s, over 9,000 vehicles crossed the junction during peak hour. By the 2010s, the stretch between Parry's Corner and

Nandanam Nandanam is a neighborhood in Chennai, India. It is a busy location and is home to many commercial institutions. This locality also offers a calm residential location. Nandanam Arts College was established in 1901. Nandanam Junction, on the a ...

was used by over 16,000 vehicles during rush hour. Anna Salai is used by over 0.183 million vehicles every day. An average of 20,000 vehicles per hour pass through the intersection beneath the flyover.

Developments

The government had plans to lease out the area under the flyover to a restaurant, a shopping centre, godowns and a parking lot, and for advertising. A preliminary study by Chennai City Connect, an NGO working on improving traffic and transport conditions in Chennai, found that the Gemini Circle intersection costs the city 270,000 a day in

petrol Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

, human capital and ecological loss. There are plans to build a flyover on top of the existing flyover. A short-term plan at a cost of 9 million has also been planned. Anna Flyover is now maintained by Aircel Cellular as a part of corporate social responsibility, which has implemented LED lighting accentuating the parapets of the flyover. LED lighting to beautify a public structure has been implemented for the first time in India by city-based Abra Media Networks; TNRIDC, a division of Highways, has awarded the contract to Aircel starting from July 2010.

Accidents and incidents

In January 1998, a small bomb was detonated under the flyover near the American consulate building. On 27 June 2012, over 40 people were injured when a Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus overturned while negotiating a curve and fell from the flyover from a height of 20 ft.

References