The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Commuters, motorists, pedestrians battle for road space

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 18, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Commuters, motorists, pedestrians battle for road space

City Bureau

The problems will not be solved unless the agencies concerned sit together and chalk out long-term solutions

— Photo : M. Vedhan

AT SNAIL’s PACE: Traffic jam near Aminjikarai on Poonamallee High Road on Monday.

CHENNAI: The conflict between vehicular traffic and pedestrians in the city continues as the manifold growth in the number of vehicles and near-static road space is pushing the pedestrians to a corner.

In the last four decades, the number of vehicles has increased from 25,000 to 25 lakh and the city has expanded along the southern and western fringes. New roads have been laid here but few changes have been effected to improve existing roads.

While north Chennai continues to heave, flyovers and grade separation work compounds the problems for road-users in south Chennai.

Commuters crossing the Kodambakkam Bridge during rush hour have to bear with incessant honking as drivers try to steal an inch from one another. Motorcyclist T. Rangarajan says, “On a bad day it can take even an hour to get through half a km.”

Flyover construction on G.N. Chetty Road affects the easy traffic flow into T. Nagar through the Doraisamy Road subway.

Traffic diversion to make way for the flyover project on North Usman Road-Mahalingapuram compounds the problem in the area. Following the traffic changes in T. Nagar, several Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses bypass regular routes leaving commuters to trudge long stretches.

Residents in north Chennai feel that widening the Rajiv Gandhi Salai (Old Mahabalipuram Road), the East Coast Road and the new flyovers has helped south Chennai while their localities suffer because of heavy vehicle movement, haphazard parking of lorries and mushrooming commercial establishments.

The Erukkancheri High Road, Basin Bridge Junction, Cochrane Basin Road (Kathivakkam High Road) and Tiruvottriyur High Road are narrow stretches through which heavy vehicles move. People commuting from these areas do not have dependable train or bus service either.

Traffic on the Basin Bridge subway is chaotic. M. K. B. Nagar resident M.R. Mani says it takes at least 20 minutes to cross the tiny subway after which traffic stagnates on the over-bridge on the Basin Bridge Road and again on the Basin Bridge Road, Wall Tax Road and Cochrane Basin Road intersection.

Don Bosco Beatitudes administrator Maria Lawrence says he has 14 motor vehicles at his disposal but finds it convenient to weave through the traffic by cycle.

But people living in south and central Chennai have their share of woes. Lack of bays for MTC buses from Anna Nagar to Central Railway Station hampers traffic movement on the E.V.R. Salai (Poonamallee High Road). A motorist on this stretch must cross at least 10 traffic signals and it could take 20 minutes to travel the four-km route.

Studies say the Harrington Road subway has marginally eased the situation and reduces the time taken to reach Anna Salai via Egmore by 20 minutes.

But, several motorists find the Chetpet or the Egmore bridges a better option to get to Anna Salai during rush hour. Though the subway has been made one-way for specified periods, with traffic towards Anna Salai only allowed during morning rush hour, the movement remains slow. The road gets narrow considerably near the subway and vehicles headed for P.H. Road from adjacent residential areas and from Choolaimedu contribute to traffic snarls.

With several schools in the neighbourhood, the Anna Nagar West junction also witnesses traffic chaos during school hours. A few schools have also trained students in traffic patrolling. With the three junctions on the Inner Ring Road stretch getting busier every day, people have started using the parallel interior roads to escape the traffic. As a result, the roads such as 18th and 13th main road have also become busy stretches. Those using the Padi junction have to take into account the traffic on the Red Hills-Anna Nagar stretch.

Commuter D. Kumar says when the signal turns green at the Tirumangalam junction, drivers rush to cross the stretch and pedestrians risk being hit by speeding vehicles. Anna Nagar resident K.Sampath confides: “I sometimes jump the signal along with other vehicles. I am afraid a speeding lorry or bus might be hit from the rear.”

The battle for space and poor adherence to traffic rules is not expected to subside unless the agencies concerned sit together and chalk out long-term solutions.

(With inputs from L. Srikrishna, R. Srikanth, J. Malarvizhi, Krishna Velupillai, K. Lakshmi and R. Sujatha).

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