The one-way traffic system introduced on Mettur Road recently has not gone well with the motorists and traders who said that the system is causing only hardship to all the road users. The district police in a press release said that to reduce congestion on the arterial stretch and also help the 108 ambulances reach hospitals at the earliest, one-way traffic system is introduced. While vehicles from GH Roundabout are allowed to proceed towards Swastik Corner, vehicles are not allowed from Swastik Corner to reach GH Roundabout. Instead vehicles have to take Sathy Road, Nachiappa Road, and Meenatchi Sundaranar Road and reach GH Roundabout. “Only ambulances are allowed to ply from Swastik Corner to GH Roundabout”, the release said.

Commercial establishments were present in large numbers on both sides of Mettur Road making it one of the busiest stretches in the city. Also, many small roads connect Mettur Road with Nachiappa Road where workshops and other shops are present in large numbers. Concrete medians were placed at many places and police personnel were posted to prevent motorists from moving in the wrong direction. T. Vignesh, a motorist, said that after visiting a shop on Mettur Road near GH Roundabout, he has to take extra two km. again to reach GH Roundabout. “There are no pavements or dedicated parking slots allotted by the establishments. Instead, hardship is caused to the motorists”, he added and wanted haphazard parking on the road to be regulated. Many traders said that they had reopened their business after two months and one-way traffic system on the arterial road will affect their business a lot. “It will be a big blow to us as people could avoid using the road”, said a showroom manager, speaking on anonymity.