If pothole-ridden roads are the most common obstacle motorists on Chennai roads have to overcome, non-functional traffic signals and the attendant chaos come a close second.
The city’s traffic situation has become extremely complicated with the rising number of vehicles. Add to that non-functional signals, those blocked by tree branches and others difficult to notice due to the increasing height of roads, and you have the recipe for chaos. The results are traffic pile-ups, altercations between motorists and the increasing risk of accidents. The ‘Green Corridor’ or a synchronised traffic system, introduced on Anna Salai several years ago, has been discontinued because of the Metro Rail work.
M. Sundaram, a resident of Madipakkam, complained that the traffic signal at Vijayanagar junction in Velachery was barely visible and added that the traffic police were often mute witnesses to the resultant chaos.
Similarly, there have been complaints from motorists about several signals such as the ones under Anna Salai flyover, Wallajah Road-Triplicane High Road junction, G.P. Road and Velachery Road-Bypass Road junction.
A senior official of the Chennai Traffic Police said 364 signals had been installed all over the city and their maintenance was reviewed through the Daily Status Register (DSR) compiled from inputs received from traffic police officials. Pointing out that the signals have been installed as per specifications of the Indian Road Congress, the official said their location depends on the road width and the amount of traffic. Some of the traffic signals run on slightly archaic technology too. Thus, while private agents have been able to rectify problems in the newer signals within a day, signals running on years-old technology are tougher to repair, he added.
When countdown timers were installed in traffic signals in 2004, it came as a boon for motorists as it helped them switch off their engines, resulting in saving of energy and preventing noise pollution. But of late, many of the over 300 countdown timers are not working.
A senior official of Chennai Traffic Police confirmed that they have identified more than 200 timers which are not working and are in the process of rectifying them. He said the maintenance of these timers had been given on contract to a private service agency and this agency has been directed to repair them at the earliest.
