Citizen connect: Motorists use footpath to ride, park vehicles, inconvenience pedestrians in Anna Nagar

Anna Nagar is supposedly one of the better neighbourhoods in the city with wider roads and pavements. But encroachment of the footpaths has put the lives of pedestrians at risk as they are forced to walk on the roads, fighting for space with the fast-moving vehicles.

The Second Avenue Road that connects the Jawaharlal Nehru Salai and the Third Avenue Road is dotted with commercial establishments is the busiest stretch in the Anna Nagar. Unlike other parts of the city, residents point out that pavements are present but cannot be used as footpaths. The existing pedestrian facilities have been taken over by motorists to park vehicles while the shops use the space to display their products. People even drive their two-wheelers on the footpath to beat traffic jams, unmindful of the risks to pedestrians.

“The pavements are built to help pedestrians walk safely. But in Anna Nagar, the pavements are used to either park vehicles or drive on it,” said K Saroja a resident, 12th Main Road, who noted that this situation has been persisting for a long time.

The situation is worse near the junction of the Jawaharlal Nehru Salai and the Second Avenue Road with a section of the stretch being made one way owing to some Metro Water work. Now, the vehicles approaching from the Mogappair would enter Anna Nagar through 15th Main Road and take left at 13th Main Road to reach the Second Avenue Road.

Even the vehicles proceeding to Koyambedu also must take this route. With a heavy traffic flow, pedestrians find it difficult to cross the road at the busy intersection of the Jawaharlal Nehru Salai and the Second Avenue Road which does not have a traffic signal. “We were forced to compete with the speeding vehicles for the road space with the pavements were occupied by the corporation garbage bins at the junction. With continuous flow of vehicles, it is impossible for one person to walk without coming in contact with a vehicle. Also, autos to pick up and drop people here, making it more congested,” said S Santhanakrishnan, an employee of a private company.

Residents said that they have made several complaints to the traffic police personnel stationed at the busy junctions, but no action has been taken yet.

When asked about the residents’ complaints, a traffic police officer in Anna Nagar said the personnel remain busy in releasing traffic from bottlenecks. “We keep reminding motorists not to breach the space marked for pedestrians, but even they need to be conscious about the difficulties that they cause to pedestrians,” he added.