The Moolakkarai junction where Tirupparankundram Road and the Vilachery Main Road meet, in close proximity to Mannar Thirumalai Naicker College in Pasumalai, witnesses fast-moving traffic along the wide Tirupparankundram Road. But the absence of any traffic regulation, even during peak hours, poses danger to road users.
Though there is a red signal that flashes round-the-clock at the junction to warn vehicle drivers to stop and proceed, it is seldom obeyed by any of them. The junction is particularly risky for those taking a right turn from Tirupparankundram Road to Vilachery Main Road since vehicles, particularly buses and other heavy vehicles, keep coming at high speed from the opposite direction. “There is no place to wait on the middle of the road and there will be vehicles coming behind you also at high speed,” says N. Pandiaraj, an autorickshaw driver. It is also difficult for those coming from Vilachery Main Road and want to take a right turn towards Tirupparankundram, he says.
“Though there is a small stretch of road, roughly 300 metres long, that connects Vilachery Main Road directly to the roundabout near the Tirupparankundram flyover, it is in an unusable condition. This is not metalled yet and frequently used by water tankers since there is a Madurai Corporation pumping station on the stretch,” he says.
A student of Mannar Thirumalai Naicker College says it is quite a task to cross the Tirupparankundram Road during peak hours. “Vehicles whizz past, unmindful of groups of people waiting on either side to cross as bus stops are situated on either side of the road right on the junction itself. We wait and cross in large groups to make them slow down,” he says.
Pointing out that a median is being constructed on certain stretches of Tirupparankundram Road, he says, “The authorities should consider building a median near this junction also to provide safety to people crossing the road.” Arguing that regulation through a traffic signal will not be ideal at the junction, A. Ramkumar, a resident of Tirupparankundram, says police personnel must be posted at the junction, at least during peak hours, to regulate the traffic.
