Frequent traffic snarls on Thanjavur Road near Gandhi Market continue to put vehicle users to hardship.
The road, frequented by residents of Edatheru, Palakkarai, Varaganeri, East Boulevard Road, Mahalakshmi Nagar and numerous residential colonies along the East Boulevard Road and buses, load carriers and two-wheelers, is always busy right from 3 a.m. to 11 p.m. Besides going to their workplace, people use the Thanjavur road to visit Gandhi Market and neighbouring meat and banana markets.
While a side of the road is occupied by grocery, fruits and vegetable traders, the other side of the road is invariably occupied by pushcarts, load carriers and hawkers, thereby shrinking the public space to a great extent. It has made life difficult for those driving on the road.
It is quite common to see vehicles lining up on the road during peak hours. The cascading effect of the traffic snarls extends up to at least 500 meters from Gandhi Market. They move at a snail’s pace, particularly in the mornings and evenings.
If encroachers, hawkers and load carriers are a cause for traffic commotion, vehicle users find some of the structures jutting out especially from stalls in the meat and fish market giving them a tough time.
Though the buildings are said to be well within their boundary, vehicle users say that it is hindering the traffic movement. There is a view that the road space at the end of the Gandhi Market is highly insufficient to handle heavy vehicular traffic.
There has been no change in the width of the road since it was formed several decades ago, though the traffic has increased manifold.
“It is not rational to maintain the road without expanding it when it is handling hundreds of vehicles. The officials should have taken steps to widen it at least two decades ago. It is high time to study the issue in detail so as to take immediate steps to expand the road,” says N. Jamaludeen, a consumer activist.