It’s an ordeal to cross Pudur

Haphazard parking and encroachments lead to traffic snarl, writes S. Sundar

August 03, 2013 10:31 am | Updated November 16, 2021 10:51 pm IST - Madurai

Free for all: Vehicles vying with each other while they cross the Pudur stretch of Alagarkoil Road. Photo: G. Moorthy

Free for all: Vehicles vying with each other while they cross the Pudur stretch of Alagarkoil Road. Photo: G. Moorthy

Encroachments have resulted in a bottleneck on Alagarkoil Road along a 500-metre stretch between the ITI bus stop and K. Pudur bus terminus, disrupting peak hour traffic.

Haphazard parking compounds the problem, with vehicles lined up on either side of the road. A used car dealer routinely parks around a dozen two-wheelers by the roadside.

The busy stretch hosts several offices and public facilities, including a Corporation ward office, Corporation maternity hospital, vegetable market, three nationalised banks, and several ATMs and restaurants. “People who come to these places park their vehicles where they please,” A. Soosai Arul, an autorickshaw driver said.

Adding to the congestion are dumper bins placed on the roadside by the Corporation. “The Corporation lorries come to this place during peak hours to clear the garbage. When a lorry halts even for a few minutes on this road, it hinders the traffic flow, leading to traffic jams,” he added. The open space of the bus terminus has become a public parking lot, making it difficult for buses to manoeuvre their way in and out. .

Worse, two bus stops face each other on the road, choking traffic flow every time buses pull in. The district administration’s directives to relocate the bus stops have remained a dead letter.

But Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic-Tallakulam) S. Yellapparaj claims the bus stops will soon be shifted between the Lotus Tank junction and the DRO Colony Road. He said parking of vehicles will be allowed only on one side of the road to de-clog traffic flow.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.