The traffic chaos in Anna Nagar that has affected thousands of commuters everyday for some years, thanks to the Metro Rail work, is all set to ease a bit as the road space taken for construction will be restored soon.
According to officials of the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), by the end of this month, the portion of road space from Second Avenue — from Thirumangalam junction to Roundana — will be open for vehicular traffic as the construction work is nearing completion.
“The construction of stations along the stretch is almost over and hence the work to relay roads is on in full swing; but the final work will be done only after the monsoon,” an official said. The work on footpath is also simultaneously on, he added.
But the road space taken for construction beyond roundtana may not be open at least till February as quite a bit of the work is yet to be finished. So, it is still not clear if the existing one-way traffic in Second Avenue and Shanti Colony will be revoked.
“We have to hold talks with traffic personnel after which we will know if the one-way traffic can be made two-way. But even if the one-way traffic remains, the road space will get substantially wider and hence the traffic will ease certainly,” an official said.
Ever since the construction of Chennai Metro Rail began, commuters have been subjected to inconvenience because of traffic congestion and reduced road width. S. Lakshmi, who commutes through Anna Nagar on a daily basis, says her travel time nearly doubled after the work began years ago. “Also, there is hardly any space for commuters at bus stops. The problem gets worse as share autos would halt in the bus stop often and so we struggle to board the bus,” she added.
