There seems to be some link between peak traffic hours and maintenance activities in major roads in the capital city. This was visible on the Vellayambalam-Althara junction stretch on Monday. Unsuspecting motorists who took this road — with a view to avoiding traffic jams on the main road — were in for a nasty surprise. The road, on one side of the median, was being re-tarred. The more the vehicles got caught in a bumper-to-bumper crawl, the more frantic became the semaphoring of two traffic policemen who tried to get the traffic moving. Seeing the serpentine nature of the jam, some motorists tried to make a u-turn at the gaps in the median. This only added to the mess. Things could have been managed better if only the police personnel had thought of imposing a temporary one-way along the stretch. On Monday, the jam took a good 35 to 40 minutes to dissipate.
The growing traffic chaos at Maruthamkuzhy Junction irks not only the commuters but also the men in uniform. With no proper traffic signalling system in place at the busy junction, regulation of traffic is often left to a lone civil police officer (CPO) deployed there. Much of the problem is because commuters violate the one-way arrangement. While vehicles coming from Edappazhanji are only permitted to take the new bridge at Maruthamkuzhy to proceed to the Vattiyurkavu area, it is a daily scene to see commuters violating the rules and taking the route via the Maruthamkuzhy junction.
A CPO posted at the junction says dealing with speeding vehicles, particularly two-wheelers, coming down the wrong side has become an everyday affair. The violation causes traffic snarls, besides posing a risk to other road-users. Residents of Maruthamkuzhy say the traffic causes discomfort every time they reach the junction during morning and evening hours.
It was some months ago that a part of the road near the traffic signal from the Medical College side at the Pattom junction caved in, leaving a depression big enough to make two-wheeler riders fall in it.
After a few weeks, repair work seemed to be starting off with the depression getting filled with concrete. But the job was left halfway through.
Recently, when the work on putting up new dividers adjacent to this road was taken up, regular commuters had a hope that this work will also be finished. But now, that work has ended leaving the depression as it is.
(Reporting by
G. Mahadevan, Rajesh B. Nair, S.R. Praveen)
