The Chennai Bypass is a full-access controlled expressway that interconnects four radial Indian National Highways around Chennai, India covering a distance of 32 km (20 mi) from Tambaram to Madhavaram via Maduravoyal at a cost of 4,050 million. Constructed as part of the National Highway Development Project to decongest the city of transiting vehicles, the expressway interconnects NH45, NH4, NH205 and NH5. This expressway now forms a part of the circular transportation corridor.

The first phase is 19 km (12 mi) six lane fully access controlled carriageway from Tambaram on the Grand Southern Trunk Road (NH 45) to Maduravoyal which lies on the Chennai - Bangalore NH4. A 3-tier interchange has also been constructed at the starting point at Irumbuliyur. It was inaugurated in April 2008.

The second phase include extending the bypass by 13 km (8.1 mi) from Maduravoyal to Madhavaram on the Chennai - Kolkata NH5 and four-laning it. It also includes 2 interchanges. A clover-leaf grade separator at Maduravoyal Junction and a trumpet interchange at Madhavaram where the bypass phase II ends.

Chennai /ˈtʃɛnaɪ/, formerly Madras /məˈdræs/, is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal, it is a major commercial, cultural, and educational centre in South India, while the port of Chennai is the second largest port in India. As of the 2011 census, the city had 4.68 million residents making it the sixth most populous city in India; the urban agglomeration, which comprises the city and its suburbs, was home to approximately 8.9 million, making it the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the country.

Although the area has been part of successive South Indian kingdoms through centuries, the recorded history of the city began in the colonial times, specifically with the arrival of British East India Company and the establishment in 1644 of Fort St George, an English settlement. The British defended several attacks from the French colonial forces, and from the kingdom of Mysore, on Chennai's way to become a major naval port and presidency city by late eighteenth century. Following the independence of India, Chennai became the capital of Tamil Nadu and a hotbed of regional politics that tended to bank on Dravidian identity of the populace. Chennai had become a bustling metropolis with beautiful classical and colonial European styled buildings, lining the city’s thoroughfares.