Chennai: At a time when both the State and the Centre are promoting smart ideas in smart city projects, Chennai continues to slip badly in its traffic management.
Forget about smart city or Singara Chennai, the traffic signals that were mauled by the Cyclone Vardah seven months back are yet to be repaired. In some stretches, the signals and men in khaki are missing, adding to the peak hour traffic chaos.
Taramani- MGR junction, Perungudi toll gate, Porur Sakthi Nagar and Koyambedu junction are not the only examples of neglect by the administrators, but these are junctions that drain the motorists’ energy and patience.
“With lot of IT companies located in the area, the traffic at Taramani-MGR junction is high. The pedestrians opt to cross roads avoiding the foot over bridge. This makes the entire locality turn crazy till late in the evening. Further, sighting a traffic police in the junction is rare,” rued citizen Senthil, an activist.
Similar is the plight of Sakthi Nagar-Mount Poo-namalle high road in Porur that neither has a traffic signal nor traffic police to regulate vehicles. As many hospitals are situated in the area, ambulances often get stuck amid vehicles zipping in odd patterns, adds the Porur resident.
“Before Perungudi toll gate, many motorists take a U-turn towards MGR Salai. You can spot vehicles zooming left and right towards the service lanes on either sides. Numerous accidents have occurred in the area,” said S. Priyanka.
A visit by DC also revealed that the traffic signals at Agaram junction in Perambur, Anna University junction, Urapakkam school signal, Mudichur Road-Gandhi road junction in Tambaram, signal near Spencers Plaza and Ega theatre junction are often at fault.
When contacted, a traffic police official said they would first work on rectifying the faulty signals before installing new ones. He claimed that more than 45 signals were repaired recently and the situation has improved.
