A small opening in the median, near the intersection of Sivan Koil Street and Arcot Road at Power House in Kodambakkam, that has been created to enable motorists from Sivan Koil Street to take a right turn on Arcot Road to reach Vadapalani often leads to a chaotic traffic situation. The problem hits the nadir during rush hour, with vehicles lining up for one kilometre.
Due to this, ambulances heading to Best Hospital, located on Sivan Koil Street, get stranded at the intersection.
Motorists want the traffic police to close the opening to ensure smooth flow of traffic on Arcot Road.
The demand by motorists comes a week after a major traffic change, which was initiated by the Vadapalani traffic police. Two-way traffic was introduced on Arcot Road between Saraswathi Vidyalaya and Vadapalani junction last month — nearly two decades ago after the system was discontinued in favour of a one-way arrangement.
Motorists coming from Kamala theatre are faced with the problem of slow traffic movement towards Kodambakkam due to two-way traffic on the narrow space available on the Arcot Road. The intersection of Sivan Koil Street and Arcot Road further slows down the traffic movement. As this is a key stretch that connects neighbourhoods such as Vadapalani, Virugambakkam, Ashok Nagar, K.K. Nagar, Saligramam, Chimmiyanagar and Choolaimedu with central parts of the city, one can imagine the situation arising out of this.
“City traffic police should close the small opening and allow motorists to take the Gokulam traffic junction or interior lanes to reach Kodambakkam or Vadapalani,” said S. Karthik, a motorist from Ashok Nagar.
As the Chennai Metro Rail work was in progress for the past few years, travel time between MMDA signal and Vadapalani junction during rush hour was somewhere between half-an-hour and 90 minutes. .
Now with the opening of the new bi-directional flyover, which is a joint project of the Chennai Metro Rail and the State Highways Department, vehicles on J.N. Road, except for MTC buses, use the flyover on both sides whereas vehicles on Arcot Road halt at the junction in front of the police station in Vadapalani to allow pedestrians and MTC buses on the J.N. Road to cross the stretch.
Despite the flyover being opened, traffic snarls on Arcot Road, especially at the Power House intersection, brings vehicular traffic from the Vadapalani junction and to the Kodambakkam flyover to a standstill, every day. “We will hold a meeting with the Chennai Corporation to divert vehicles that use the small opening at the intersection before the intersection is closed,” said a police source.
