Vadapalani flyover: No relief for traffic woes

An overbridge that was built aimed at reducing the waiting at the signal has been helping only private vehicles that proceed from Ashok Nagar to Koyambedu and motorists who pass through Arcot Road continue to face the same ordeal. 

Police officials say that the bridge has served no purpose as MTC services plying between Koyambedu and Ashok Nagar could not go on the bridge as they have halts on 100-feet Road. Many private vehicles also avoid the bridge and take the branch roads, compounding the problem. “There are many logistical issues close to the junction as there is a temple and bus stops in between. They have also made the stretch in front of the Vadapalani temple two way after the construction of the bridge. All these are adding to the chaos,” former Deputy Commissioner of police, Traffic Planning Sivanantham told DTNext. 

After the bridge was opened, private vehicles were allowed in both directions on the road that passes through the Vadapalani temple and leads to Arcot Road. However, MTC buses and heavy vehicles continue to take the earlier route via 100 Feet Road to reach the Lakshman Sruthi junction. The two-way fare on the road near the Vadapalani temple has added to the confusion as the junction has become four-way stretch now. 

“The Commissioner of Police has drawn some plans and has instructed the DC (traffic) to tackle the situation. They are working on certain plans to ease the traffic at Vadapalani junction. The bridge has gone waste and the traffic congestion at Vadapalani continues to stay,” P Saravanan, Deputy Commissioner of Police, T Nagar told DTNext.

Sivanantham says shifting the bus stops on 100 Feet Road will help the MTC services to take the over bridge and the police should also revert to oneway fare on Vadapalani temple stretch to ease the traffic. Officials, however, have no plans to regulate the vehicles entering and exiting from a shopping mall on Arcot Road, which also holds up traffic for a considerable time. 

“Autos are parked in front of the mall and the entry and exit gates are not fixed at an appropriate place. The long queue of vehicles proceeding to the mall, especially during movie screening time, hold up the entire traffic on Arcot Road. We have seen ambulances stuck in the traffic with no way to proceed,” Raju, a resident of Saligramam said.