Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Drive on Marudamalai Road, with a prayer

K.V. Prasad

The 12-km stretch is fast turning into a motorists' nightmare

BOTTLENECK: Traffic flow is impeded by this narrow stretch on Marudamalai Road at Pappanaickenpudur in the city. - Photo: M. Periasamy

COIMBATORE: When one begins a drive towards Marudamalai, an abode of Lord Muruga, there must be a prayer on one's lips. Not with just devotion, but also for reaching the temple safely. The 12-km stretch is fast turning into a motorists' nightmare.

With housing colonies mushrooming on either side of the road even beyond Bharathiar University, the road is bound to be chock-a-block with traffic. End-to-end, Marudamalai Road offers a heart-stopping experience if one drives during peak hours.

Potholes

It took more than a couple of years to have the road re-laid just before the Assembly elections in May. Till then, potholes killed or maimed motorcyclists and cyclists and inflicted immense damage on all other vehicles.

For pedestrians at areas from Pappanaickenpudur to Kalveerampalayam, venturing out on the road was as good as inviting danger. Vehicles avoiding potholes could aim for road margin and knock off the pedestrians.

But, a fresh road surface is offering no comfort. From driving in fits and starts, vehicles have converted the road into a racetrack.

The worst problem is that the stretch is narrow at various points, choking traffic. The first point of chaos is near the Lawley Road Junction. No sooner one enters the Marudamalai Road at this point, there are enough indications of what is in store on the rest of the stretch.

Bus stops located close to the junction chokes traffic. Making matters worse is the wrong entry into the road by buses, trucks and every other vehicle from the Thadagam Road that are headed towards Vadvalli, Thondamuthur or Marudamalai.

After a reasonably clear stretch along the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, the road leads to absolute chaos at Pappanaickenpudur.

Once past the Government school, vehicles hit a chicken neck at a small temple located along the road. Any error in negotiating the stretch will lead to a traffic jam. This is the most dangerous spot on the road. Shopkeepers admit encroachments persist though a number of them were removed more than three years ago.

Chaotic

Bus stops located at junctions with bylanes that lead into Mullai Nagar and some other layouts further down the road, hold up traffic. Vadavalli Bus Stand is as chaotic as the Lawley Road Junction.

Buses moving in an out of an open space that makes for a terminus and those that stop along the main road (buses bound for Marudamalai and Thondamuthur) point out that the stretch is narrow and traffic management poor.

The problems from the Lawley Road Junction to Bharathiar University stress the need for widening of the road. With an information technology park and a technical university planned (near Bharathiar University), the road users feel that an expansion is needed to make the entire stretch safe.

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