Residents have appealed to the Southern Railway and the State Highways Department to construct a pedestrian subway at Irumbuliyur so that pedestrians have easy and safe access to Grand Southern Trunk Road from Sudhanandha Bharathi Road and Old Grand Southern Trunk Road.
At present, pedestrians have to walk over the railway tracks between Tambaram and Perungalathur railway stations to reach GST Road.
With the absence of a dedicated pedestrian subway, they are forced to take a detour of at least one kilometre to reach GST Road.
“Due to poor illumination on, crossing the tracks at night is extremely unsafe. The stretch near the railway tracks draws anti-social elements. Some people use it as an open bar. Most of the residents of Old Grand Southern Trunk Road work at the Madras Export Processing Zone (MEPZ), Tambaram Sanatorium. They come late at night after their shifts and cross the railway tracks, unmindful of the consequences,” says P. Vijay, a long-time resident of Irumbuliyur.
More than 20,000 people live at Thilagavathy Nagar, Arul Nagar, Balaji Nagar, Irumbuliyur, Kurinji Nagar and other areas along Old Grand Southern Trunk Road.
Vijay says, “We have requested that the subway be constructed using push-box technology. Traditionally, a subway would be built by vertical excavation and large-scale digging. But, in this technology, concrete boxes will be pushed with the help of hydraulic jacks into the soil to construct the subway. As a result, the work will not disrupt heavy flow of traffic on GST Road. Repeated requests to the authorities of the Southern Railway have gone in vain.” When contacted, officials of the Southern Railway said lack of funds was the problem in constructing foot overbridges and pedestrians subways. This year, funds have been allocated for consruction of eight foot overbridges and pedestrians subways between Tambaram and Chengalpet. The construction of the proposed subway at Irumbuliyur will taken up on the basis of priorities and after conducting a viability study, the officials said.