Two-way traffic system has been restored on the section of Arcot Road, between the Saraswathi Vidyalaya school and the Vadapalani junction, after a gap of two decades.
The only exception is that MTC buses and lorries still cannot ply on this stretch, which is around 250 metres long. Cars, autorickshaws and motorcycles will be allowed on it.
The one-way system still applies to lorries and MTC buses, which means they will continue to head to Second Avenue Road in Ashok Nagar to take a ‘right’ turn on Jawaharlal Nehru Main Road to reach Arcot Road in Vadapalani via Kamala theatre. This was in fact the case when the one-way traffic system was applied across the board.
This major change in traffic system, which came into effect on March 27, follows a report carried earlier this month in the T. Nagar edition of The Hindu Downtown, drawing attention to the fact that hundreds of motorists were taking a detour to reach Arcot Road in Vadapalani, despite the new flyover beneath the Metro Rail track having been opened to traffic three months ago.
“The two-way traffic helps us reach the Vadapalani junction quickly. We thank everyone, including the traffic police, who were instrumental in the two-way traffic system being restored,” said S. Arunachalam, a motorist from Saligramam.
Since the opening of the new flyover, senior traffic police officers led by P. Aravindhan, deputy commissioner of police (DC), Traffic South (Chennai); Stephen, assistant commissioner of police (Traffic – T. Nagar), R. Kumaa traffic inspector (Kodambakkam), R. Kumaresan, have been initiating several steps to decongest the crucial junction in Vadaplani and J.N. Main Road. A month ago, two-way traffic was introduced for a week on a trial basis by the traffic police. Multiple challenges were faced as a result of encroachments on this stretch. However, due to pressure from various quarters, two-way traffic system was re-introduced on March 27.
