A drive on the Holy Cross College Junction-Marakkadai stretch of Madurai Road is turning out to be a dreadful experience for motorists these days.
Chaotic traffic conditions prevail on the road, especially during the peak hours, despite the best efforts of the highly-stretched traffic police. Indiscriminate parking of vehicles on the roadside, wrong-way driving, encroachments and ongoing construction of storm water drains have made the stretch a major traffic bottleneck.
West Boulevard Road which runs parallel to Madurai Road is no better as work on construction of pavements under Smart Cities Mission programme is under way on certain stretches of the road. With the construction debris and trenches dug for the work shrinking the carriage space and the rise in traffic volume due to the festival season, the road is literally bursting at its seams, complain road users.
Construction material and hardware shops line up along both the roads. A large number of goods vehicles load and unload material right through the day. Some of the shops have temporary structures extending to the road for display of wares. “Traffic is horrible on the stretch between Ramakrishna Theatre and Sophy’s Corner on Madurai Road,” rued R. Gopal, a resident.
Customers visiting shops, banks and other commercial establishments invariably park their vehicles on the roadside. “Haphazard parking is the main reason for the congestion on Madurai Road. City buses heading towards Main Guard Gate can also be diverted via West Boulevard Road, which is wide enough, after removing encroachments and preventing parking of goods vehicles such as mini vans,” said N. Jamaluddin of Thennur.
Compounding the problem, city buses halt right in the middle of the road at Ramakrishna Theatre and Raja Theatre bus stops, often leading to a pile up of vehicles behind them. With the Ramakrishna Theatre bus stop located close to Thennur Road overbridge, buses halting on the descent of the bridge pose a danger to motorists.
Several motorists can be seen driving on the wrong side towards Marakkadai from Thennur road overbridge, except when a traffic constable is on duty on the T. Junction of the bridge.
The city police, in the recent days, have posted personnel on the two roads to regulate traffic. But the few policemen and women struggle to cope up with the situation.