A drive along the Madurai Road, running between Holy Cross College Junction and Palakkarai, could give a dreadful experience for motorists in the city these days.
The road that has turned into a hub of construction material and hardware market of the city has also become highly congested. Running parallel to the West Boulevard Road, the Madurai Road was partially declared one-way several years ago. But the rule is flouted at will by most of the goods carriers.
Scores of wood and plywood, hardware and other construction material shops are lined up along the entire road, attracting a huge number goods vehicles loading and unloading material from the shops .
Most of these vehicles and those of consumers visiting the shops could be seen parked in front of shops throughout the day, shrinking road space to less than 10 feet in width at several stretches. The situation has turned worse on the stretch between Ramakrishna Theatre and Sophy’s Corner, where a slew of commercial establishments, banks and government offices are located.
City buses are forced to halt right in the middle of the road at the Ramakrishna Theatre and the Raja Theatre stop.
With the Ramakrishna Theatre bus halt being located close to Thennur Road overbridge, several buses halt on the descent of the bridge causing traffic snarls.
The service lane along the bridge that leads to Marakkadai has not been laid properly, adding to the problems of motorists. The service lane on either side of the bridge too has become parking area for goods vehicles.
“The road has become one of the most congested, often causing problems in movement of traffic. Mini vans and fish carts have come to fully occupy the road, posing problems to road users,” said M.Sekaran, president, Federation of Consumer and Service Organisations, calling for strict action from the police to prevent parking of vehicles along the road. Mr. Sekaran suggests that once the road median at the West Boulevard Road was built, light vehicles could be diverted through it so as to relieve the Madurai Road of congestion. The road links connecting the two roads at Jan Bazaar and near Markkadai have also been occupied by vendors and goods vehicles making it difficult for motorists to cross over, points outs Srinivasan, a private firm employee.
Poor enforcement of traffic rule, a bane in the entire city, is nowhere more evident than on the Madurai Road, he says.
