Residents of West Sivan Koil Street and South Sivan Koil Street near Vadapalani junction seek restoration of two-way traffic arrangement.
These interior lanes off Jawarharlal Nehru Main Road, near Vadapalani junction, were made one-way a decade ago, to facilitate flyover work at Vadapalani junction.
According to the one-way traffic arrangement, motorists coming from Jawarharlal Nehru Main Road take a “left turn” towards Vadapalani junction to reach Arcot Road via West Sivan Koil Street and South Sivan Koil Street.
Despite the flyover being inaugurated last year, neither the traffic police nor Greater Chennai Corporation considered restoration of the two-way traffic arrangement, say residents.
“We did not object when our streets were made one-way and heavy vehicles were made to ply through our colonies to facilitate the flyover work — because, this infrastructure project was going to be a big boon to the region. However, even after the inauguration of the flyover many months ago, the traffic police have not restored the previous two-way traffic arrangement,” says K. Ramesh, a resident of Vadapalani.
Also, they want the traffic police to take necessary steps to prevent the movement of heavy vehicles, mainly lorries and vans, from using the residential lanes. These heavy vehicles use these lanes to bypass the congested Vadapalani junction.
Residents say there is a continuous flow of heavy vehicles on their streets. Besides creating noise pollution, this affects the movement of pedestrians. These streets have become accident-prone. There are many schools in the vicinity, and minor accidents involving children have occurred. According to a few residents, a few fatal accidents have also taken place.
Besides the flyover project, this one-way traffic arrangement has been helpful in the execution of the Metro Rail project.
Residents say the traffic police and the Corporation find the one-way traffic arrangement convenient and therefore, even after the opening of the Vadapalani flyover last year, the previous two-way system has not being restored.
On their part, police sources say the existing one-way arrangement is effective in easing the traffic congestion in the neighbourhood.
Also, with a two-way traffic arrangement between Vadapalani junction and Sarawathi Vidyalaya School on Arcot Road is in place, the police the less-congested Vadapalani junction will ensure the safety of all road users. On the other hand, allowing vehicles to take a ‘left turn’ at the Vadapalani junction to reach Arcot Road near the police station will only result in traffic chaos and the waiting time at the junction will increase.
