The absence of a traffic signal is creating considerable hardship for pedestrians on Church Road near the bus terminus at Mogappair East.
Pedestrians struggle to cross the junction there as vehicles keep coming from all the directions .
The situation is worse during the rush hour.
“This is how it has been for years at this junction. A complaint has been made to the Mogappair police on the need to have a traffic signal and deploy policemen to regulate traffic,” said K. Venketaramani, a long-time resident of Mogappair East.
Church Road is one of the shortest routes for residents in Nolambur, J.J Nagar, Mogappair East, Ambattur Industrial Estate, Padi, Red Hills, Kolathur and Puzhal to reach the Poonamallee High (PH) Road via Maduravoyal.
As a result of the ongoing Metro Rail work in Anna Nagar and flyover work at Thirumangalam, most of the vital stretches including 12th and 13th main roads in Anna Nagar have been made one-way for many months now. As a result, traffic on these routes is less during the rush hour.
On the other hand, the interior roads — Church Road in Mogappiar East and Third Main Road in Ambattur Industrial Estate — serve as alternative routes to reach the main city via PH Road.
So, motorists prefer to use these stretches rather than taking the congested roads in the interior parts of Anna Nagar.
“It saves a lot of time and fuel. Further, taking congested routes like 13th Main Road is tiring as traffic moves at a snail’s pace,” said S. Kamala, a resident of Ambattur.
Police sources said to set up a traffic signal, the State Highways Department, which maintains the stretch, has to make a written request to the city police, asking for such a facility.
“With regard to deployment of traffic police at the junction, we do not have sufficient number of personnel in Anna Nagar District Police limits as most of the policemen are posted during the rush hour at junctions that have schools are nearby,” said a source in the Traffic Police.
