The comfort of driving on the city roads turns a nightmare for motorists when the vehicles reach the stretch of two-lane from Jawaharlal Nehru Salai up to K4 Police Station in Anna Nagar.
This one kilometre-long section will easily qualify as the worst stretch of road in the vicinity. The bumpy road has got too many potholes that make vehicles crawl at a snail’s pace. The craters are so deep and wide that bumper-to-bumper traffic pile-ups are an everyday experience.
“It takes 20 to 25 minutes for vehicles to cross this minor section,” a resident of Kambar Colony, A. Aruna said. And when it rains, the problem is multiplied.
“Many two wheelers have already had a miraculous escape while driving on the sandy surface and luck would not favour all at all times,” lamented N. Sudha, a mother of two children and a Central government staff.
The road once serviced by only the residents of the area has become a shortcut for all motorists who reach Roundtana, Chintamani and Kilpauk, after the Metro Rail works began on Second Avenue and simultaneous road block on Jawaharlal Nehru Salai due to flyover construction work.
The number of schools located in the belt awaits the routine road repairs by the Corporation.
It is a bone-crunching experience for those who have to ride bicycles to school. Those in vehicles are tossed up violently at unexpected places - which have made the MTC drivers wary about the dangers of driving on this stretch.
Residents Welfare Association activists on either side of the roads said they are not against any infrastructure works, but wanted the Chennai Corporation should ensure the smooth road surface once the other agency finishes work. Having completed work on 18 Main Road it still remains to be blacktopped/smoothened. With the result the entire stretch has been dusty on most part of the day. They should blacktop one road and take the other road for digging, they suggested.
It may be recalled that contract workers of Chennai Metrowater dug up roads on 18 Main Road and 6 Avenue for undertaking improvement works to Kilpauk Water Works Distribution System, which is a JNNURM funded project.
There is no signboard on the road to caution the drivers of heavy vehicles about the condition of the road. Vehicles make two-way movement on this critical junction joins the Third Avenue and First Avenue. However, a signboard is being placed near the place where the work is going on. Number of policemen are deployed to regulate traffic near Jawaharlal Nehru Salai. But more number is required to handle traffic deadlocks in the midway. The condition of the road is so bad that at least two LMVs break down on this stretch daily, a resident of W Block, said.
Despite the statements on road safety made by the State Government in the wake of criticism of inaction, and the Corporation announcing fund allocation for road repairs, nothing has changed.
“All that we want is re-laying of the road. But, the immediate requirement is to fill up the potholes and keep the road motorable through-out the rainy season,” Rajagopalan of 6 Avenue said.
For the residents, and the average road user, particularly the students, it is an endless wait for the civic body to bestir itself and undertake even rudimentary repairs, to have a smoother and safer trip to school and back.
