Chennai: Despite being considered high-profile areas, Santhome and Mylapore have featured in the media for their poor civic infrastructure ranging from storm water drains to damaged roads. Issues raised by residents to the corporation fell on deaf ears. The situation remains unchanged.
Narrow width of roads, lack of medians and speed breakers, unauthorised parking and improper traffic regulation at various intersections in Mylapore such as of Kutchery Road, Bazaar Road, Mada Street and Devadi Street irk residents and motorists.
Kutchery Road connecting Luz Church Road with Santhome High Road sees heavy traffic congestion at the Kutchery Road signal. Though the stretch is only 30 feet wide, heavy vehicles including buses and trucks ply from both directions at high speed.
“Kutchery Road is mainly meant for motorcyclists and pedestrians. Due to the topography of the area, which is also densely-populated, the stretch cannot be widened,’’ T Malar, a resident of Mylapore, said. “The corporation should ensure that at least basic safety features such as speed breakers and traffic signals are provided at important sections of the road,’’ she added.
Pedestrians who cross the road meet with accidents, as there are no medians. “Several tourist car operators in the area park their vehicles on the main road, adding to traffic woes, while speed breakers are absent in all eight lanes and three junctions in the vicinity. Unauthorised parking has been a long pending concern in various localities of Mylapore. Authorities have not taken any action so far,’’ said a resident of Bazaar Road.
With no traffic police checkpoint or traffic police personnel around, except at Santhome junction, to regulate traffic and check unauthorised parking, commuters are often victims of minor accidents.
“Most of the shops, including those selling textiles and handicrafts are located around Kutchery Road. The congestion has only worsened here over the years and proper restrictions need to be placed at Mada Street and Bazaar Road to prevent parking near the market,’’ P Gunasundhari, a shopkeeper, said.
When contacted, senior corporation officials said that there is no scope for widening the stretch. “Traffic police personnel will be deployed to ease traffic congestion. We will ensure larger vehicles are not allowed on the stretch. Safety features such as speed breakers will be added soon,’’ a senior corporation official said.
