The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Plazas take their toll on rush-hour traffic

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Tuesday, Dec 16, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Plazas take their toll on rush-hour traffic

Deepa H Ramakrishnan and Sruthi Krishnan

Every vehicle took about 3-4 minutes to cross any of five toll plazas on and off Rajiv Gandhi Salai

Traffic jam extended up to TIDEL Park junction
Several road-users had heated arguments

— Photo: M.Karunakaran

LONG WAIT: The Monday morning rush-hour scene near the main toll plaza on Rajiv Gandhi Salai in Perungudi.

CHENNAI: Rush-hour traffic on Rajiv Gandhi Salai, made a toll road from Sunday midnight, was thrown out of gear as office-goers had to wait for around 45 minutes to pay and pass through the toll plazas on Monday.

With every vehicle taking about 3-4 minutes to cross any of the five toll plazas located on and off Rajiv Gandhi Salai, vehicles lined up one behind another closely. Due to the slow movement at the main toll plaza in Perungudi, the traffic jam extended up to almost the TIDEL Park junction. Consequentially, several employees reported late for work.

Frayed tempers and heated arguments were also witnessed with many of users, particularly autorickshaw drivers, questioning why they should pay the toll. “Even the personnel at the booths are not clear about the rules and charges and they showed us a pamphlet,” said G. Krishna, an executive with a company in Thoraipakkam.

An IT professional working in Siruseri, who did not want to be named, said he was stuck for about 30 minutes at the toll gate on Pallavaram Road during his morning commute. “No one observed lane discipline. Of the three lanes, only two were open… because of which both lanes were choked.”

Many residents of the localities nearby, who had not either applied for the Local Residents Pass or had not collected them, also lined up at the Tamil Nadu Road Development Corporation site office.

Autorickshaw driver M. Guruswami said though he was a resident of the neighbouring Kandanchavady, he could not apply for the pass as the vehicle he drove was a rented one.

“Many of us do not own our vehicles and cannot show that the vehicle is registered in our name, which is necessary for an LRP. We should be issued LRPs on the basis of a letter from our autorickshaw stand,” he added.

G.Sathish, a resident of Sholinganallur, said, “The toll charges could be rounded off instead of the Rs.6, Rs.17 and Rs.28. It takes a lot of time to get the change. Also sign boards must be placed at least half-a-km before the toll plazas on the lanes to be taken.”

Almost a similar chaotic scene was witnessed in the evening too. At Siruseri commuters waited for about 45 minutes to reach Navalur, a distance of a mere 0.5 km.

TNRDC Managing Director K.R.Viswanthan told The Hindu that the queries from vehicle-users took a lot of time.

The TNRDC had opened a reversible lane in the evening to ease traffic pressure, he added. He hoped that the system would stabilise in a week.

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