Driving down the 500-metre-long Villivakkam subway is fraught with danger for motorists, especially motorcyclists, as steel beams beneath the concrete surface jut out at a few spots.
As it a link to CTH Road and SIDCO Nagar and connects north and south Villivakkam, through Red Hills Road, it is busy.
Every day, a huge number of motorists from north Villivakkam, Rajaji Nagar, Srinivasan Nagar, Rajamangalam, Baba Nagar and Bharathi Nagar pass through the subway to reach Anna Nagar, which is a shopping hub in the region and also has prominent schools.
Residents use the subway to drop children at schools. MTC buses and small buses pass through the subway to reach the interior areas of Villivakkam, Kolathur and Retteri.
“Commuting on the subway is riskier at night as the protruding steel beams are not visible due to poor illumination. There have been times when people have hurt themselves on the protruding steel rods, while crossing the spot,” says B. Kasinath, a resident of Villivakkam.
The Rs. 34-crore subway replaced the unmanned level crossing (LC-02) at the Villivakkam railway station. According to residents, since its inception, the subway has not been maintained properly and complaints related to accumulation of garbage and water seepage beneath the railway track are reported often.
There have been instances of tyres of the vehicles getting busted and punctured.
“Steps will be taken to plaster the damaged portion on the facility,” a Corporation official says.
The subway and Red Hills Road comes under Ward 65 and 94 of Zone 6 (Thiru Vi Kaa Nagar) of the Greater Chennai Corporation.
