In an effort to bring down the waiting time and curb accidents at the junction of Medavakkam Road and Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Road, the Highways Department is constructing a pair of flyovers at a cost of Rs. 64 crore.
The unidirectional, three-lane flyovers are coming up on either side of the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Road. Residents felt that the flyovers would benefit commuters a great deal as they now lost a lot of time waiting especially during the rush hour.
B. Karthik, a timber store owner on Medavakkam Road, said that motorists often jumped the signal causing accidents. “People don’t have the patience to wait until the light turns green,” he said and added that late night accidents too were common. “Many IT firm employees go back home at that time and rash driving leads to accidents,” he said.
During the rush hour, motorists have to wait up to 20 minutes for the signal to turn green. “The amber light doesn’t work and when the light changes from green to red, it is easy to get a traffic challan for jumping the signal,” said Raghu, a cab driver. He urged the government to widen the Medavakkam Road to ease traffic congestion.
The foundation stone for the project was laid by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in February and is expected to be completed in 30 months’ time, which is by the end of 2018. Since land for the project is available with the Highways Department there aren’t many encroachments to be removed, said a source. Each flyover would be 700 metres long and has 17 spans.
