A section of residents and motorists of Nanganallur do not seem to be impressed with the recent measure of the traffic police enforcing certain regulations, especially the one-way system on Nanganallur Fourth Main Road. While the residents and motorists argued that all of them were inconvenienced and forced to a take long and circuitous route to reach Pazhavanthangal railway station, traffic police said people would get adjusted to it soon.
A few months ago, St. Thomas Mount District Traffic Police (Enforcement) made Fourth Main Road a one-way stretch in an attempt to ease congestion on this road, which many residents agree is probably the most important stretch in the whole of Nanganallur. Motorists coming from the city and on their way to Nanganallur after getting past the Pazhavanthangal subway are allowed to travel on Fourth Main Road towards as in the past. However, in the return direction, the road has been made one-way.
Vehicles from Third Main Road have to take a left turn at the intersection of Fourth Main Road and travel on Fifth and Sixth Main roads and College Road to reach the railway station or travel under the subway to reach Grand Southern Trunk Road. Pazhavanthangal comes under the limit of Madipakkam Traffic Circle and a couple of boards have been placed at vantage points urging the co-operation of the people to help in making the new arrangement a success.
Drivers of autorickshaws and commuters of Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses are not satisfied with the new arrangement. Bus stops on the Fourth Main Road were shifted to the Fifth Main Road and commuters, especially senior citizens, face an uphill task of walking an extra distance of more than 500 metres.
Few alternatives
Traffic policemen said that with increasing congestion on all the important streets; lack of adequate space for parking and very little road space for MTC buses to travel without a hitch, there were very few alternatives other than making these important stretches one-way. Even in Chennai, where one-way system has become the norm, residents and motorists were always upset initially. But once things settle down, there are no complaints.
Speaking to Downtown at the intersection of Fourth and Third Main roads, residents said that thing that work in one place need not always work in the other. Compared to the city, flow of traffic was high during morning and evening rush hours on Nanganallur Fourth Main Road. The rest of the day was frequented by people visiting the market and other shops along the stretch. The one-way system could be in place for a few hours in the morning and evening, as it is in vogue in some place of Chennai.
The one-way system on the Fourth Main Road in the past few months has only increased wrong side riding, especially by auto rickshaws and two-wheelers, exposing law abiding pedestrians to further risks.
Traffic planning, according to the residents was mostly unscientific. The need of the hour is to identify designated parking slots for two-wheelers and cars, removal of unauthorised structures on public space and improved signage along the road. Nothing was being done on this count and the law enforcing agencies always take the easy way out by resorting to one-way system, the residents pointed out.
Urging the traffic police to restore movement of traffic as it was prior to the one-way system, residents also said that until Government agencies come together as a single entity in addressing traffic related problems, complaints would continue to persist, one way or the other.
