It was widely expected that the new bridge across the Uyyakondan Thirumalai Vaikal on Vayalur road would offer an accident-free ride to road-users.
However, poor design and construction have failed the bridge on several counts. The bridge, constructed by the Public Works Department (PWD), since its opening for traffic about a year ago, had remained an accident hotspot.
Accidents involving buses, cars, autos and two-wheelers have become recurrent on the bridge. Most of the accidents occur when the vehicles cross the western edge of the bridge where there is a curve on the approach road.
Regular users said that the sudden curve caused confusion whenever they cross the bridge. The drivers and two-wheeler riders have to be extremely cautious when negotiating their vehicles at the edge of the bridge.
Though the regular users of the bridge manage to drive carefully, it is the new users, who are not familiar with the route, who land up in trouble. A cross section of the people living in Shanmuga Nagar, Uyyakondan Thirumalai, Srinivasa Nagar, Ammaya Pillai Nagar said that the authorities concerned had not paid much attention to study the topography of the area before designing it.
Though there is no problem over the bridge, the problem is with the approach road on both ends to the bridge.
They are of the view that approach road should have been straight for at least 150 to 200 meters on both ends so as to prevent confusion among road users.
“Clear and straight approach road is necessary to ensure a smooth transition from the roadway to the bridge. However, not much attention has been given to that point,” said a road user.
A.P. Sahadevan, Councillor of 52{+n}{+d}ward, said that several accidents had taken place near the bridge in the recent past. It had to be set right immediately to ensure smooth traffic. For the time being, the old and new bridges could be used for one-way traffic.
However, forming a straight approach road alone would solve the issue permanently, he said.
