Chidambaram had a morning train to board at Egmore. A resident of Alwarpet, he thought he could reach the station in 30 minutes and made his plans accordingly. He left his house around 10 a.m. A few minutes into the drive, he realised he had underestimated the morning traffic at TTK Road. A traffic snarl on TTK Road reducing vehicular movement to a frustrating crawl, it took him over 20 minutes to cross TTK Road and reach Music Academy. On a day with manageable traffic, it would have taken him under 10 minutes to cover this stretch. It was a smooth ride thereafter and Chidambaram caught his train in the nick of time.
He has however not forgotten the lesson from that morning — the traffic on TTK can upset your travel plans.
Following that scary trip to Egmore station, Chidambaram observed the traffic on TTK Road carefully and he now knows that around this time, on weekdays, TTK Road gets clogged with vehicles. Many other commuters have had similar experiences on this stretch. Grishma had an important meeting at Royapettah, which she missed due to slow-moving traffic near the intersection of CP Ramasamy Road and TTK Road.
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“The morning time is the worst for travel here, as too many vehicles use the stretch. As far as possible, I avoid taking TTK Road during rush hour,” she says.
With vehicles converging on TTK Road from various points such as Beemana Mudali Garden Street, St. Mary’s Road, Luz Church Road, Raman Street, Bharathidasan Road and CP Ramasamy Road, it is little wonder that this important link road is plagued by traffic troubles on most days. Chidambaram says the police turn off traffic signals to control traffic and this, he believes, aggravates the situation. “I understand that the system of manually changing the traffic signals was adopted after a lot of deliberation, but somehow it has not worked for TTK Road. In a manual system, there is always the possibility of human error, which results in chaos on the street. They should bring automated traffic signals back to TTK Road. Maybe, that will help manage the flow better.”
Though parts of the stretch have been made one-way, the problem persists, motorists say. Parameshwaran, an auto driver operating from Nadanam, says he turns down trips to Ethiraj Kalayana Mandapam or to any other place on TTK Road during rush hour.
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“Part of the stretch is one-way. If I get stuck in a traffic jam, it would be such a waste of time and money,” he explains.
The music season added to the chaos. “Traffic personnel should be present throughout the season and at least during peak hours on other days to regulate traffic. They should also ensure that the signals work properly,” adds Grishma.