5 months ago
3
The Pallavaram–Thoraipakkam Radial Road, erstwhile a comparatively quiescent corridor, has emerged arsenic a large postulation artery implicit the past decade, driven by accelerated commercialized and residential development. With hordes of vehicles hitting this road, a large nexus betwixt GST Road and Rajiv Gandhi Salai (also known arsenic OMR), commuters accidental mounting congestion and deteriorating roadworthy conditions present request urgent involution from civic and postulation authorities.
The arterial road, which begins astatine the GST Road–Thiruneermalai junction astatine ‘Ponds’ adjacent Pallavaram and connects Thoraipakkam connected Old Mahabalipuram Road (Rajiv Gandhi Salai), passes respective cardinal landmarks, including Keelkattalai lake, S. Kolathur lake, firm hospitals and large acquisition institutions.
A choke point
The Taluk Office Road–Vel’s College junction has go 1 of the astir congested points connected radial road, peculiarly during greeting highest hours. Despite the beingness of a postulation signal, commuters accidental predominant violations spell unchecked.
Potholes astatine the Kamakshi Memorial Hospital junction. | Photo Credit: T. Arvind
Traffic personnel, mostly drawn from the Reserve Police Force and Chitlapakkam police, are posted astatine the junction, but activists allege enforcement remains lax. “Most of the time, the unit stay adjacent the booth alternatively of actively regulating traffic, starring to chaos astatine the intersection,” a roadworthy information activistic said.
With postulation volumes rising steadily owed to the beingness of IT parks, planetary schools, colleges, matrimony halls, malls and firm hospitals, commuters accidental the junction requires semipermanent postulation engineering solutions.
Renewing a demand
Regular roadworthy users and activists person renewed a request for a mini-flyover astatine the Vel’s College-Taluk Office roadworthy junction to guarantee uninterrupted question on the radial road. They constituent retired that the flyover astatine adjacent Madipakkam–Keelkattalai intersection person importantly eased congestion.
“A akin flyover present volition decongest the junction and amended question clip for vehicles heading towards OMR,” says elder societal activistic Santhanam, urging authorities to origin successful aboriginal postulation maturation portion readying infrastructure.
Potholes adhd to risks
Adding to commuters’ woes is the mediocre information of the Vel’s College Road junction, which is riddled with potholes and uneven patchwork repairs. Several commuters accidental the patchwork itself is much hazardous than unfilled potholes. “When we thrust implicit the uneven surface, the conveyance tends to sway sideways. It is nerve-racking astir of the time,” says Ashwin, a nonmigratory of the country and a regular commuter.
The confederate agelong adjacent the intersection, starring towards the Taluk Office remains strewn with granite stones and has not been relaid with bitumen topping for years, residents say.
The sloping terrain makes the agelong peculiarly hard for women commuters and two-wheeler riders. Even the cardinal information of the junction, wherever vehicles instrumentality U-turns, is dotted with potholes and uneven surfaces, expanding the hazard of accidents.
Mud accumulation
Another large information interest is the accumulation of mud and soil connected the road, mostly attributed to vehicles transporting operation materials. Mud deposits present inhabit astir a 4th of the carriageway astatine respective points, particularly other the Chaitanya acquisition institution. As a result, motorcyclists are forced to debar the near lane and determination towards the centre of the road, exposing them to fast-moving dense vehicles. “The agelong has go highly dangerous, particularly during highest hours,” says, Ashwin. Compounding commuters’ difficulties is the information of the work road, wherever enactment has remained unattended for respective months. Residents accidental the agelong becomes astir unmotorable, particularly during the monsoon. “It was highly hard to navigate the roadworthy during the rains. The agelong was dug up and near without immoderate disposable progress,” says Ashwin.
While the Madipakkam–Keelkattalai flyover has improved postulation travel successful that section, commuters accidental the ongoing culvert enactment by the Water Resources Department astatine the Kamakshi Memorial Hospital–Tambaram–Velachery junction has slowed postulation considerably.
The sluggish gait of work, combined with pothole-ridden attack roads, has worsened congestion. Vehicles turning near from Tambaram–Velachery Road onto the radial roadworthy are forced to determination cautiously owed to uneven surfaces. Recently, an autorickshaw was near stranded aft getting stuck successful a pothole astatine the junction, a witnesser said.
Joint enactment needed
Activists and commuters person urged authorities to prioritise the Vel’s College–Taluk Office junction for contiguous intervention. Apart from readying a flyover, they privation potholes repaired, work roadworthy laid connected priority, accumulated mud and soil cleared regularly, and stricter postulation policing enforced.
“A coordinated attack involving highways, civic bodies and postulation constabulary is indispensable to code the aggregate issues on this corridor,” activists said, stressing that delays could pb to much accidents and longer commute times.
