Anna Salai

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Arterial road in Chennai, India

title: "Anna Salai" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["roads-in-chennai", "central-business-districts-in-india", "memorials-to-c.-n.-annadurai"] description: "Arterial road in Chennai, India" topic_path: "geography/india" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Salai" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Arterial road in Chennai, India ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox street"]

FieldValue
nameAnna Salai
alternate_nameMount Road
maintHighways and Minor Ports Department
Corporation of Chennai
National Highways Authority of India
imageAnna Salai Chennai.JPG
length_mi8
direction_aSouth
terminus_aGST Road / Inner Ring Road, Mount-Poonamallee Road, Kathipara Junction at St.Thomas Mount, Chennai
junctionPallavan Salai
West Cooum River Road/Swami Sivananda Salai
Wallaja Road/Blackers Road
General Patters Road
Binny Road/Spencers Plaza
Whites Road/Greams Road
Peters road
Lloyds Road
Nungambakkam High Road/Cathedral Road (Anna Flyover)
Vijaya Raghava Road
Sir Thyagaraya Road, T. Nagar/Eldams Road
Cenotaph Road
Venkatanarayana Road/Chamiers Road
South Usman Road, T. Nagar
Taluk Office Road, Velachery Main Road(Little Mount)
Sardhar Patel Road
Guindy Race Course Road
Maduvankarai Bridge Road
direction_bNorth
terminus_bFlag Staff Road, Island Grounds, Chennai
coordinates
::

|marker_image= |name=Anna Salai |native_name= |alternate_name= Mount Road |maint= Highways and Minor Ports Department Corporation of Chennai National Highways Authority of India |image= Anna Salai Chennai.JPG |map= |length_mi=8 |length_round= |length_ref= |length_notes= |established= |decommissioned= |direction_a=South |terminus_a=GST Road / Inner Ring Road, Mount-Poonamallee Road, Kathipara Junction at St.Thomas Mount, Chennai |junction=Pallavan Salai West Cooum River Road/Swami Sivananda Salai Wallaja Road/Blackers Road General Patters Road Binny Road/Spencers Plaza Whites Road/Greams Road Peters road Lloyds Road Nungambakkam High Road/Cathedral Road (Anna Flyover) Vijaya Raghava Road Sir Thyagaraya Road, T. Nagar/Eldams Road Cenotaph Road Venkatanarayana Road/Chamiers Road South Usman Road, T. Nagar Taluk Office Road, Velachery Main Road(Little Mount) Sardhar Patel Road Guindy Race Course Road Maduvankarai Bridge Road |direction_b=North |terminus_b=Flag Staff Road, Island Grounds, Chennai |coordinates= |counties= |cities= |system=

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/OpenStreetMap_render_Anna_Salai.png" caption="Map of Chennai showing Anna Salai"] ::

Anna Salai (), named for C. N. Annadurai, 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 ends at the Kathipara Junction in Guindy.{{cite news | title = Time travel on Anna Salai | newspaper = The Hindu | location = Chennai | pages = 4 (MetroPlus) | publisher = Kasturi & Sons | date = 23 October 2018

Several flyover projects were under consideration on the road, many of which have been shelved owing to the construction of the Chennai Metro project, which runs along the median of the road. Anna Salai Head Post office, one of the most important post offices in the city, is located on this road. It was established in 1854 as Mount Road SO as a non-gazetted delivery office. With the growth of commerce and urbanization, this SO was upgraded to gazetted in 1955. Nomenclature of this Head Post office was changed from Mount Road Head Post office to Anna Road Head Post office on 15 September 1974.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/HOTEL_D'ANGELIS_,MADRAS_EARLY'S_1900.jpg" caption="Mount Road in 1900"] ::

Anna Salai can be traced from at least the early 17th century,{{cite news | title = Chennai's Anna Salai: Frozen in time | newspaper = The New Indian Express | location = Chennai | publisher = Express Publications | date = 2 July 2018 | url = https://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/travel/2018/jul/02/chennais-anna-salai-frozen-in-time-1837158.html | access-date = 23 October 2018}} and has its origins in a cart track which was used by the European employees of the British East India Company to travel from the factory at Fort St George to the town of St Thomas Mount where the apostle St Thomas is believed to have been martyred, according to Christian belief. The road, in its present form, took shape during the time of Charles Macartney who served as Governor of Madras. With the construction of Marmalong Bridge in 1724, the road started gaining prominence. In the following years, the road became part of the city's central business district which originally covered only George Town.{{cite web |title=Structure of Chennai |work=Chapter 1 |publisher=CMDA |url=http://www.cmdachennai.gov.in/Volume3_English_PDF/Vol3_Chapter01_Structure%20of%20Chennai.pdf |access-date=24 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826201439/http://www.cmdachennai.gov.in/Volume3_English_PDF/Vol3_Chapter01_Structure%20of%20Chennai.pdf |archive-date=26 August 2013

In the 1700s, the road was lined with garden houses and large colonial mansions with balconies and verandas set amidst lush gardens.{{Cite news | last = Narayanan | first = Ayush | title = The Mount Road that was | newspaper = The Hindu | location = Chennai | pages = 5 (MetroPlus) | publisher = Kasturi & Sons | date = 2 July 2019 | url = https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/the-architectural-gems-of-mount-road-and-the-history-behind-them/article28250379.ece | access-date = 21 July 2019}} By the 1800s, Mount Road has become the traders' area of the city of Madras while First Line Beach in Georgetown remained the seat of processing, shipping and manufacturing businesses. However, the business activities of Mount Road was responsible for the city's economic growth. Several giant firms had beginnings on Mount Road, from the Amalgamations group to the TVS group. The road's proximity to the Government House, the home of the Governor, and the palaces of the Nawabs of Arcot resulted in several firms selling cars and other luxury goods setting up shops on the road. Simpson & Co, which moved to its current location opposite Government Estate after 1875, began building carriages and coaches and then cars. In the early 1900s, the road became the entertainment hub for the British. In 1903, the first steam-driven car was taken for its debut drive on Mount Road. To overcome the Great Depression of the 1930s, Simpon's introduced the hire purchase system for cars and trucks. In the 1930s, the TVS group, which was a travel operator in mofussil areas, was established in Madras by acquiring the Madras Auto Service property. In the 1940s, Anantharamakrishnan helped with the formation of Amalgamations & Co. The city's first skyscraper, the LIC Building, was built on Anna Salai in 1959. Several major firms were then established, namely, Spencers & Co, Victoria Family Hotel (the present location of the Indian Overseas Bank Headquarters) and Higginbothams.

The Stretch

Anna Salai starts from the Parktown area of Chennai city where Chennai Central railway terminus is situated. It, then, traverses the Island with its statue of Sir Thomas Munro to the other side of the Coovum before entering the neighbourhoods of Thousand Lights and Teynampet areas. From Teynampet, it continues straight southwards to Nandanam and Saidapet before traversing the Maraimalai Adigal Bridge across the Adyar River to Little Mount and finally, Guindy.

Anna Salai is maintained by the Tamil Nadu Highways Department. The road extends for a total of 11 kilometres and traverses the heart of the city.

By the 2010s, the stretch between Parry's Corner and Nandanam was used by over 16,000 vehicles during rush hour. Anna Salai is used by over 0.183 million vehicles every day.{{cite news | last = Ramakrishnan | first = Deepa H. | title = Flyover wall mended after 3 days | newspaper = The Hindu | location = Chennai | date = 1 July 2012 | url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article3589297.ece | access-date = 5 July 2012}} The Metropolitan Transport Corporation in Anna Salai carries about 14,000 passengers per hour per direction.{{cite news | title = Chennai: Bid to ease Anna Salai rush, give push for public transport | newspaper = The New Indian Express | location = Chennai | publisher = IBN Live | date = 11 June 2012 | url = http://ibnlive.in.com/news/chennai-bid-to-ease-anna-salai-traffic-rush/265437-62-130.html | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130126111151/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/chennai-bid-to-ease-anna-salai-traffic-rush/265437-62-130.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 26 January 2013 | access-date = 20 June 2012}}

Safety level

Anna Salai remains the road in the city experiencing second most number of accidents annually, next only to Jawaharlal Nehru Road (100 ft Inner Ring Road), with one person being injured every 1.13 days. Together, these roads account for almost 14 per cent of the 5,101 accidents that occurred in Chennai in 2010. New traffic regulations have posed sizeable problems to motorists in recent times which was however introduced to streamline congestion issues.

Landmarks on Anna Salai

Major landmarks

Railway Stations

File:Anna Salai shops.jpg|Anna Salai shops File:Gemini Flyover-Mount road-Chennai.jpg|Gemini Flyover-Anna Salai File:Anna Salai2.jpg|Anna Salai near old Anand Theater File:Thomas Munro classic.jpg|Statue of Thomas Munro in The Island, Chennai File:State Legislative Assembly (5319604341).jpg|The Tamil Nadu Omandurar Government Multi Speciality Hospital and Medical College File:The Hindu and The Mail.jpg|The offices of The Hindu and the now-defunct The Mail in Anna Salai File:LIC Building Anna Salai Chennai.jpg|LIC Building File:Spencer Plaza from Anna Salai.jpg|Spencer Plaza from Anna Salai File:Thousand Lights Mosque (6708375421).jpg|Thousand Lights Mosque File:Equestrian Statue Anna Salai Chennai.jpg|Equestrian Statue on the Nungambakkam side of Anna (Gemini) fly over. File:Anna Salai seen from Chennai MRTS near Willingdon Bridge.JPG|Near Willingdon Bridge, seen from Chennai MRTS File:Panagal Building.jpg|Panagal Maaligai or Panagal Building, Saidapet

References

References

  1. (28 August 2011). "Mount Road's takeover tycoons". [[The Times of India]].
  2. "Anna Salai flyovers proposal shelved".
  3. Karthikeyan Hemalatha. (11 July 2011). "100-Ft Rd, Anna Salai are city's most dangerous". [[The Times of India]].
  4. (2025-01-20). "New traffic regulations on Anna Salai cause hardship to motorists". [[The Hindu]].

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