It is a bumpy ride for hundreds of motorists taking the Vandalur-Kelambakkam Road.

An important road connecting the Rajiv Gandhi Salai with the GST Road in the south, it is in a bad shape as its top layer has worn off. Several stretches, including Kolapakkam and Mambakkam, are dusty, as the blue metal has come off, causing further stress.

K. Palaniappan, a resident of Kolapakkam, said the road witnesses heavy traffic due to the presence of educational institutions, industries and development in neighbouring areas.

“It needs repairs and street lights are a must due to curves on the road. Not even the thickly populated places, where pedestrian movement is high, have lights. We move about in the light from roadside shops,” he said. Encroachments at the Mambakkam junction must be removed, said C. Ravi, a resident. “This is the junction with the Medavakkam-Velachery Road, and many establishments have encroached upon the road, making vehicular movement difficult. For now, vehicles take a U-turn after a kilometre and turn onto the road. There is a school nearby and the road gets jammed during rush hour,” he said.

Installing lights

Hundreds of commercial establishments have come up due to the presence of colleges on the road. But safety of pedestrians remains a question. “Without street lights, even CCTV cameras installed by the police are useless. The police ask us to install lights, but how many can we install outside our establishment,” said M. Mano, who runs a commercial establishment at Mambakkam.

Highways officials said that patchwork would be taken up soon. “A total of 10 km of road would be improved by the end of this month. However, it is up to local panchayats to install lights,” said an official.