History
Prior to its completion, the East Coast Road mainly consisted of village roads connecting one fishermen hamlet to another. The vital connecting link then was the Old Mahabalipuram Road(SH-49A) till Mahabalipuram. Pondicherry was reached from Chennai through the still existent and busy 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. But within two years, it started showing signs of distress, adversely 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 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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