The Peter’s Road flyover, constructed by Chennai Corporation in the late 1990’s, has been closed for traffic, because of cracks that developed on the structure. The Traffic Police, on Monday, closed the two flyovers on Peters Road, Royapettah for repair work.
The flyover in Royapettah was among the first 10 flyovers sanctioned in 1997 to ease traffic congestion in the city. One of the flyovers on Peter’s Road was inaugurated, along with the Sardar Patel Road Flyover, in February 2000. The second flyover on Peter’s Road was inaugurated a few months later.
The civic body spent a total of Rs. 15.5 crore on these two mini flyovers.
As a result of the closure, traffic congestion in the neighbourhood of Peter’s Road has increased considerably in the past two days. “We spend a lot of time waiting at the junctions. The Traffic Police should make alternative arrangements for traffic diversions to reduce congestion on this stretch,” said Dominic Raj, an auto driver.
Work on replacement of worn out expansion joints on the flyover near Government Royapettah Hospital began recently and the Chennai Corporation engineers found some additional cracks adjacent to the joints. The traffic police and the civic body made a decision to close down the stretch for assessment of the condition including the structural stability of the flyover.
“There was an accident on Sunday. A few motorists were injured after hitting the structure created for repair work on the flyover. We found the flyover closed on Monday. The officials are yet to commence the work,” said Sundaramurthy, a resident of Peter’s Road.
“The Chennai Corporation has already reduced the width of the road by constructing the flyover. This is a bus route. So, the reduced space is insufficient for motorists. The issue may become more challenging during rush hour,” said Hussain Basha, another resident of the road.
Meanwhile, traffic police officials said the Bus Routes Road department of the Chennai Corporation had taken up repair work on the flyover as cracks had developed on it. Two motorists had also recently fallen down on the flyover. "We want to prevent further accidents. Hence, we will be opening the flyover once the repair work gets completed in a few days," said Edison, traffic enforcement inspector, Royapettah.
(with inputs from Vivek Narayanan)
