Motorists vie for space as Metro Rail work narrows Tiruvottiyur High Road

Tiruvottiyur High Road is the lifeline for thickly populated North Chennai, connecting the city to the residential localities and industries in Manali and Ennore.

Chennai Metro began work on its 9-km Phase-I extension connecting Washermenpet and Wimco Nagar. Of the 9-km corridor, 2.4-km would be underground till Korukkupettai and rest of the corridor would be elevated till Wimco Nagar. The elevated work on the narrow TH Road has drastically reduced the width of the road, leading to heavy traffic congestion. Besides, the stretch from Agasthya Theatre at Korukkupettai till Wimco Nagar via Tondiarpet and Tollgate, Raja Kadai and Theradi remain in bad condition.

“The narrow road and potholes have made travelling difficult and a time-consuming task. Earlier, we could reach Central railway station in 40 minutes from Tiruvottiyur. Now it takes over an hour because of the snail pace movement of the vehicles on the TH Road,” said K Ayappan, a resident of Theradi. He noted that the road has become so narrow that it would be very difficult to get past a slow-moving MTC bus. “If you are caught behind an MTC bus during peak hours on TH Road, all our plans will go awry as you cannot overtake the bus on the narrow stretch,” he said.

Not only the motorists, but the problems faced by pedestrians are also plenty. “With the vehicles vying with each other for the limited space, the pedestrians are left to compete with motorists for space. Several accidents involving pedestrians have been reported along TH Road,” said S Kanagaraj, a retired corporation school teacher at Korukkupetai.

Former Tiruvottiyur municipality chairperson R Jayaraman blamed the Chennai Metro Rail for the poor condition of TH Road. “It is the responsibility of CMRL, which is undertaking Phase-I extension work on TH Road, to maintain the arterial Road. However, the entire stretch is in really bad shape, severely hampering the movement of the vehicles,” he said, adding that vehicles can move faster despite the Metro Rail works if the road was relaid. “Considering that the road would become narrower after the Metro construction, the State Highways Department should take steps to remove encroachments and widen the road further to ensure free movement of traffic in the future,” he demanded.

Sources in the State HighwaysDepartment said that the department has asked Chennai Metro Rail administration to immediately take up TH Road repair work.“Though the Road comes under our jurisdiction, we have handed over the road to the CMRL for its ongoing work. Until the Metro works are completed, the CMRL will be responsible for the Road maintenance,” the official said.