The stretch of Alagarkoil road between Ambedkar statue junction and Eco Park is getting dangerous with every passing day what with the stretch turning free for all motorists.
Lackadaisical attitude of the city police should be blamed for the worsened situation.
For, the neatly-laid barricades — on the centre of the road to keep speeding vehicles from two extreme sides of the road separate for a safe distance — are either missing in total or partially.
At least six steel barricades were placed on the one-way road near Ambedkar statue to divide the vehicles coming from Gokhale road and Alagarkoil road from mingling immediately after getting past the traffic island.
In the absence of scissors crossing marking on the road at the junction, the barricades were helping to slow down traffic before both streams of vehicles crossed each other to proceed towards Goripalayam and K.K. Nagar. The barricades were preventing vehicles, especially two-wheelers and auto rickshaws, coming from Alagarkoil road from making a sudden left turn towards the narrow lane adjacent the MKU evening college campus to Gokhale road.
However, these six barricades have vanished one by one and none is there these days and often impatient riders and drivers were posing a danger at the junction.
A few feet ahead, downstream of Periyar statue, centre median had been constructed for a few metres.
However, when Alagarkoil road stretch between Ambedkar statue and Tamukkam junction was converted into one-way a few years ago, the police extended the median by placing at least a score of steel barricades.
The main purpose of the barricades was to streamline vehicles coming from Alagarkoil road and from Melur main road before they took right turn towards Gokhale road.
The barricades ensured that the vehicles coming from Melur road went a little further and took right turn on Abdul Gaffer Khan road, instead of Lajpat Rai road. To facilitate a smooth right turn of those vehicles, the police had put up rumblers on the right half of the road to slow down the vehicles coming from Alagarkoil road.
However, ever since the barricades here were removed during the Chithirai festival for the procession of Lord Kallazhagar during the summer, they were not replaced.
With the absence of half the numbers of barricades, vehicles from both sides were taking right and left turns after passing every barricade thus creating chaos on the road.
If only the barricades are put back on these two stretches, safety of road users can be ensured.
