The presence of wide statue-cum-traffic islands at arterial places on the busy Trunk Road in Nellore city has been viewed as one of the major problems for the smooth running of vehicles leading to slow and awkward traffic jams during peak hours.
Though the trimming of these traffic islands to a desirable extent has been proposed at various levels, the authorities concerned did not initiate any measures going by the fact that political considerations are prevailing over the practical problems.
However, the recent death of a woman LIC agent in an accident near such an island on the Mini Bypass Road triggered protests from people over the traffic hurdles and obstructions causing harm to the road users.
In many instances, it was found that the vehicle drivers were not able to see clearly the moving traffic when they come nearer to the wide and big traffic islands. This is leading to needless accidents some of which are becoming serious.
This time, a serious view has been taken by the municipal and police authorities which immediately led to the trimming works at the Jawaharlal Nehru statue-cum-traffic island at the arterial Madras Bus Stand centre on the Trunk Road. The island is being cut short by 10 to 12 ft on all sides at this junction.
“It is a very important thing to remove traffic obstructions. There should be no considerations of any nature in this respect. This kind of reducing the islands should be taken up at all the needful points,” said L.V. Ramanaiah, a resident of Vedayapalem.
Floating population
The need for ensuring smooth traffic movement has become all the more necessary in the city what with only on arterial road being the main shopping destination for nearly 6 lakh population of the city. Besides, there is the load of floating population from the nearby towns which are growing in size these days because of rapid urbanisation.
These days, some new shops and malls are coming up at the Mini Bypass Road as well but it appears to be taking a long time before a major load of traffic and shoppers is shared by this road.
After reducing the Madras Bus Stand Centre islands, the authorities are expected to shift their focus on the other such needful islands as well. The Gandhibomma Centre is also the busiest centre in Trunk Road where also the traffic island is perceived to be a little bigger posing inconvenience to the road users.
At the VRC Junction, there is a statue-cum-traffic island which is also seen as an important point for taking corrective steps keeping in view of the increasing traffic from Muthukuru and other rural areas into the city limits.
Officials say that the floating population has increased considerably from towns like Gudur, Kavali, Atmakur, Udayagiri, Podalakur, Venkatachalam, Vidavaluru, Kodavaluru, Buchireddypalem and so on. These populations mostly depend on the 35,000 odd autorickshaws moving in the city limits for transportation.
This kind of reducing the islands should be taken up at all the needful points
L.V. Ramanaiah
Resident
