A series of immediate measures to improve the traffic situation in the city are currently under way, according to senior officials in the Transport Department and the Chennai City Traffic Police.
The measures are an outcome of a high-powered meeting chaired by the Deputy Chief Minister, M.K.Stalin, on October 19 to identify solutions, which could be implemented immediately to decongest city traffic.
Core group
The core group, headed by Transport Commissioner S.Machendranathan, which was formed after the meeting, submitted its report recently and some of the recommendations are being implemented. “We have made a series of recommendations. Some of them are long-term, but work has started on things which can be implemented right away. These include relocating EB transformers which eat into pedestrian space, removing junction boxes, clearing encroachments along roads, laying medians and enhancing them in places where they already exist,” said Mr.Machendranathan. Medium-term measures such as traffic junction improvement programmes to decongest important junctions are also being looked at.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) M. Shakeel Akhter said the mandate was to increase the carriageway on existing roads and to ensure free flow of traffic.
