Basin Bridge junction got a new traffic plan implemented this week. It’s a big step forward and one that was long overdue; and the pilot arrangement promises to end the decades-old problem of stubborn traffic snarl in the area.
Basin Bridge junction is a crucial intersection that connects the central business district, George Town, with the rest of the city. The junction links the 3-km-long-Wall Tax Road with Basin Bridge Road and Cochrane Basin Road along the Buckingham Canal.
As per the new traffic plan, vehicles coming from Perambur, Choolai, Vysarpadi, Sembium and Vepery cannot take a ‘right’ turn at the junction to reach Wall Tax Road. Motorists have to proceed straight to take a ‘U’ turn below the new Mint flyover to reach Wall Tax Road via the one-way narrow Padavattamman Koil Street.
Likewise, vehicles coming from Cochrane Basin Road cannot proceed straight to reach Wall Tax Road from the junction. They have to take a ‘U’ turn below the Mint flyover to reach Wall Tax Road via Padavattamman Koil Street.
Wall Tax Road, however, retains its old traffic arrangement. Vehicles can take a right and left turn at the junction to reach Mint and Basin Bridge railway station respectively. This is mainly because most of the MTC bus services use Wall Tax Road to reach Mint and areas such as Tondiarpet, Stanley Hospital, Royapuram, North Beach, Tiruvottiyur, Perambur, Villivakkam and Purasawalkam.
Any change in MTC routes will cause inconvenience to commuters and would cost the State exchequer as MTC will have to spend more money on fuel for the detour.
“As schools and colleges are closed for summer vacation, the traffic is considerably less at the junction. So, we decided to implement the new plan, study its feasibility and impact on easing traffic at the junction,” police sources said.
Every day, on an average, more than 60,000 vehicles use the junction to reach the central parts of the city including Anna Salai, Kamaraj Salai and Poonamallee High (P.H) Road. The Basin Bridge junction including its key stretches like Wall Tax Road are maintained by the State Highways Department. At present, the junction is manned by a team of 12 traffic policemen, including four traffic sub inspectors. Prior to the new traffic plan, crossing the junction took at least 30 minutes during rush hour. “The traffic change helps us reach Wall Tax Road much faster. However, connecting lanes and streets should have proper street lights and direction boards as many motorists drive on the wrong side in these narrow stretches,” said K. Vasudevan, a motorist from Vepery. The main reason behind introducing the new arrangement is the closure of Elephant Gate bridge, which helped eased traffic at the Basin Bridge junction all these years.
In 2018, Southern Railway announced it would reconstruct the bridge, together with the Chennai Corporation, at a cost of ₹26.45 crore.As a result, traffic at Elephant Gate especially bull carts and push carts that carry goods to the wholesale godowns in George Town, now goes through the Basin Bridge junction.