“Travelling from Sulur to Race Course area takes nearly one-and-a-half hours,” said an industrialist in Coimbatore. “Commuting even by car seems to be easier in metro cities compared to the roads and traffic issues in Coimbatore,” he said.
“Sometimes you wait for three green signals to pass before you are able to proceed at Singanallur junction,” the industrialist added.
Coimbatore south MLA Vanathi Srinivasan tweeted on Wednesday about the poor condition of Trichy Road in the city.
Water stagnation at Ramanathapuram junction, traffic snarls at Singanallur, poor condition of the service road at Sungam, and the narrow stretch between Sulur and Neelambur bypass all add to the woes of the motorists on Trichy Road.
An official of the State Highways Department said that land acquisition work is expected to get over soon for the down ramp under construction at Sungam, as part of the Trichy Road flyover. The department plans to ask for ₹4 crore to re-lay damaged portions of the service road for nearly 3.2 km, where the flyover is coming up. The damaged section of the road at Ramanathapuram junction can be redone only when the stagnating water drains and after the rains are over. The department is also preparing a project proposal to construct a flyover at Singanallur for 1.5 km. This will not require land acquisition.
Meanwhile, the National Highways Authority of India is preparing a project to have a bypass road from Karanampettai to Mettupalayam Road. When these projects are completed, the traffic congestion on Trichy Road will ease.
K. Kathirmathiyon, secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause, added that there are plans to widen the entire stretch of Trichy Road from Coimbatore to Palladam, wherever it is narrow. The Highways Department should expedite works to take up construction of flyover at Singanallur, should get funds and re-lay the service roads where the flyover is coming up, should acquire land and widen the service road where the flyover starts (near ICICI Bank), and remove the encroachments for the down ramp. While the down ramp works proceed at Sungam, it should complete the works on the main carriageway and open the flyover for vehicles.