On an average, at least four accidents involving pedestrians occur every week between Koyambedu and Maduravoyal on the Poonamallee High (PH) due to lack of proper arrangements for pedestrians to cross the stretch safely.
As additional buses were added to the existing fleet of south-bound buses at the Chennai Moffussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) in Koyambedu for the Pongal festival, pedestrians find it difficult to cross the busy stretch.
Because of these additional buses coming from the CMBT, the flow of vehicles on PH Road between Koyambedu and Maduravoyal increased.
Traders who have their offices and outlets on either side of the stretch, found it arduous to cross the stretch at any given time.
Further, many buses coming from the southern districts were made to wait along the stretch for long hours before they could get a space to park inside the CMBT. As a result, the road seemed to have been was reduced to half its width.
“Despite the presence of traffic policemen at many spots here, the continuous flow of vehicles made it difficult for pedestrians to cross safely. Further, many motorists were seen jumping the signal, making it worse for pedestrians,” said C.Murugan, a resident of Maduravoyal.
To prevent accidents, the traffic police attached to Koyambedu and Maduravoyal placed logs of dry long palm trees, unused concrete boulders, steel barricades, small concrete slabs as median on the stretch between Koyembedu and Maduravoyal. The novel idea proved effective with a drop in fatal accidents. However, the problems of unruly motorists jumping the signal before pedestrians could cross the stretch and absence of dedicated zebra crossings for walkers continue.
“We are trying to make the stretch safer for all road users. In fact, we organised an awareness campaign on road safety along the stretch on Tuesday to coincide with the Road Safety Week which is celebrated every first week of January,” said a police officer. Every day, more than one lakh vehicles,especially container lorries and cargo trucks from manufacturing units at Irunkattukottai and Sriperambudur use the stretch to reach the Chennai port, around 19km from Maduravoyal, especially between 11 p.m and 6 a.m. During the day, hundreds of MTC and educational institution buses, along with two wheelers take the PH Road to reach the central parts of the city, instead of using stretches like Ambattur Industrial Estate Road, Jawaharlal Nehru (JN) Main Roadand Chennai–Tiruvallur High (CTH) Road. With round-the-clock traffic flow, PH Road is not only one of the busiest stretches in the city, but also one of the most accident-prone. In fact, according to police sources, when it comes to fatal accidents, PH Road is second only to Anna Salai. PH Road unfriendly to pedestrians More than one lakh vehicles, especially container lorries and cargo trucks from manufacturing units at Irunkattukottai and Sriperambudur use the stretch to reach the Chennai port.
