With its lush greenery, St. Mary’s Road is nice to look at. That is, only if you shut out the chaos that often results from traffic violations.
On a section of St. Mary’s Road, one-way traffic arrangement has been introduced. This section is meant only for motorists heading towards Ramakrishna Math Road. This arrangement is however violated with impunity.
Motorists can be seen entering St. Mary’s Road from Ramakrishna Math Road, to reach localities such as Srinivasan Street, Sivaraman Street, Devanathan Street and Sringeri Mutt Road.
Ideally, motorists should enter these localities via Ramakrishna Math Road and Venkatakrishna Road in Mandaveli.
Motorists frequenting this section have complained to the Chennai Traffic Police (CTP) about these violations.
“As a result of such road violations, traffic congestion starts from Devanathan Street,” points out G. Krishnan, a motorist.
Vehicles parked on both sides of St. Mary’s Road, thereby hindering free movement of vehicular traffic, adds to the problem.
The situation is particularly bad near the Corporation cemetery and the walkers’ area on the eastern side of the stretch, which is used as an open urinal, forcing pedestrians to walk on the carriageway.