It’s a struggle to cross JN Salai under Padi bridge
With the flyover facilitating the free movement of vehicles from the CTH Road without waiting for the signal at the junction, the vehicles travelling along the JN Salai go beneath the flyover.
CHENNAI: With motorists driving recklessly, pedestrians, particularly women and senior citizens, find it difficult to cross the Jawaharlal Nehru Salai under the Padi flyover to reach the bus stand.
After the construction of the flyover with the rotary at the centre in the busy intersection of Jawaharlal Nehru Salai and Chennai-Tiruvallur High Road (CTH Road) in 2009, the pedestrians who had to cross the road faced the danger of being hit by speeding vehicles as there was no traffic signal or the policemen to help them.
With the flyover facilitating the free movement of vehicles from the CTH Road without waiting for the signal at the junction, the vehicles travelling along the JN Salai go beneath the flyover.
“The vehicle movement is heavy throughout the day. It is particularly very difficult to cross the road during peak hours and after sunset,” said K Kannan, who works at a private company in Padi.
He said that he usually takes the MTC bus from Puzhal to Padi for his daily commute.
S Venugopal, an auto driver at the junction said that the accidents involving the pedestrian happen frequently at the intersection.
“Mostly, accidents happen when it is dark. The light from the high mast lamp below the flyover hardly falls on the stretch. When the pedestrians try to cross the road, they at times hit by the vehicles plying at high speed,” he said.
The auto driver said that the movement of the pedestrians has gone up after the opening of the famous retail store in Padi.
“Earlier, mostly the people working in the nearby private companies used the MTC stand. Now people visiting the retail store frequently use the bus stand for their commute,” he said, adding that a traffic signal should be installed beneath the flyover to facilitate the safe movement of pedestrians. But the permanent solution will be the construction of a pedestrian subway,” he said.
An official of the State Highways Department said that there were not much pedestrian movement that required the construction of a subway or foot-over bridge.