Bridge work chokes central area in Tiruchi

The new bridge, to be built at a cost of Rs. 81.40 crore, will come up in place of the existing narrow bridge that has become a traffic bottleneck in Tiruchi.

July 23, 2014 10:14 am | Updated 10:14 am IST - TIRUCHI

Traffic jams have become a regular feature on Madurai Road near Tiruchi Junction. Photo: A. Muralitharan

Traffic jams have become a regular feature on Madurai Road near Tiruchi Junction. Photo: A. Muralitharan

While the regular commuters are delighted with the commencement of work over the new multilevel bridge at Viralimalai Road intersection near the Railway Junction here, the traffic congestion on the ever busy roads in the area has become a cause for concern.

The new bridge, to be built at a cost of Rs. 81.40 crore, will come up in place of the existing narrow bridge that has become a traffic bottleneck in Tiruchi. The project, which will be implemented in two stages, is expected to be completed in five years.

The district administration and the city traffic police announced traffic diversion for the vehicles from and to the Dindigul Highway via Periyamilaguparai as soon as the construction work commenced a few months ago. Later, last week more traffic diversions were announced around the Aristo roundabout.

With the closure of the road from Zonal Point intersection on the existing bridge to the Thevar Statue Junction near the Central Bus Stand, all the buses bound to Central Bus Stand from Zonal Point have been diverted via Railway Junction Roundabout and Rockins Road.

Because of the latest traffic diversion, frequent traffic snarls were witnessed on the road leading to Railway Junction roundabout and Rockins Road.

Moreover, the diversion of the buses arriving from Chennai, Pudukottai, and Thanjavur via Bhararthidasan Salai and take a diversion for entering Rockins Road was causing severe congestion at the junction roundabout.

The traffic diversion was causing hell of hardship for the people, particularly the office-goers and students, of K.K. Nagar, Crawford, Karumandapam, and Ponnagar areas, say a cross-section of the people.

Although, there was no alternative to the present traffic diversion because of the proximity of the construction site to the central bus stand and railway junction, putting up with this kind of jam every day for five years was unthinkable for them.

The only viable alternative appears to be the creation of temporary arrangements for the buses arriving from Madurai, Pudukottai, and Thanjavur, without entering the central bus stand, says C. Balasubramanian, district president of the Exnora International.

The authorities could think of setting up make-shift bus stand to function in the day time for these buses at Mannarpuram or Kallukuzhi. These buses could be operated up to central bus stand at night, he says.

Moreover, many private vehicles arriving in the city prefer the Crawford Road following the completion of the new flyover, instead of the circuitous bypass.

The traffic managers should ensure that these take only the bypass and entre the city via TVS Tollgate, and head post office junction.

Khadi Kraft junction is earmarked by the police for holding agitations With the traffic diversion, any protest here causes a pile up of vehicles. On Tuesday, the police had given permission for holding the demonstration of the Labour Progressive Front at Khadi Kraft junction. The agitation had to be wound up quickly because of prolonged traffic snarl.

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