A plan to decongest the Koyambedu area by shifting a section of mofussil buses there to terminus on the outskirts of the city is in the offing. However, the existing facilities in Koyambedu would be put to optimum use.
According to sources in the Housing and Urban Development Department, the plan is being considered following suggestions from commuters. The inter city terminals for mofussil buses that pass through Grand Southern Trunk Road towards the southern part of the State are likely to be located near Tambaram.
Two options - Sriperumbudur and Poonamallee - are being considered for locating the terminus for buses that pass through National Highway 4 towards the western parts of the State.
According to CMDA officials, the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus is currently unable to handle the large number of mofussil buses from various parts of the State. The efforts towards creating adequate idle parking lots for mofussil buses are yet to be successful. As various government departments with land in the area not likely to part with their land for expansion of the terminus, the option of shifting a section of the buses to the outskirts has been under consideration.
A discussion on this is likely to be initiated at a meeting of CMDA shortly. With the Metrorail work likely to increase traffic congestion in and around Koyambedu, efforts are already under way to tackle congestion. More traffic changes are also likely when the construction of the Metrorail stations begin.
Originally, the initiative was part of the strategy proposed by the Second Master Plan for the Chennai Metropolitan Area for optimising the existing road transport infrastructure, according to which the policy of the government was towards shifting the inter-regional terminals from the city core towards the city fringe.
