Commuters travelling between Trichy, Natham and Vadipatti will soon be able to bypass Madurai’s congested city roads as the 30-km Vadipatti–Melur bypass is set to open this week.

The four-lane National Highway (NH) 744A corridor connects NH-44 at Vadipatti with NH-38 at Thamaraipatti, creating a direct route around the northern side of Madurai.

The new bypass is expected to reduce travel time between Vadipatti and Melur from nearly one hour to around 30 minutes, according to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The project is expected to benefit daily commuters, freight vehicles and inter-district buses that currently face delays at busy urban junctions during peak hours.

Construction of the project began on March 16, 2020, with an estimated investment of ₹854 crore. The project, however, missed its original completion timeline.

A senior NHAI official said the bypass would be opened after final checks on the user-fee collection system at the toll plaza. “We have installed FASTag scanners in every lane and are testing whether they can accurately read the tags on vehicle windscreens,” the official said.

Trial runs are currently being conducted to verify lane equipment, toll transaction processing and barrier operations before the start of regular toll collection along with public access.

The bypass alignment starts at Vadipatti, runs through Sundarrajanpatti near Alagarkoil, extends towards Mandhikulam on the Natham Road and terminates at Thamaraipatti on the Trichy highway.

The project includes three flyovers at Sundarrajapuram, Mandhikulam and Thamaraipatti to separate through traffic from local junction movements and improve traffic flow. It also features an animal overpass near Vadipatti and chain-link fencing along a 210-metre stretch passing through the Wavuthamalai reserve forest.

Regular commuters welcomed the development, saying the bypass would help reduce fuel consumption and travel stress by avoiding city congestion, frequent braking and signal delays.