Officials from the Corporation and Regional Transport Office (RTO) have started taking steps to relocate 12 bus stops that are located near busy signals across the city.
These bus stops added to traffic congestion and were not relocated despite repeated representations to officials over the years.
Coimbatore Consumer Cause secretary and member of the Road Safety-cum-Traffic Advisory Council K. Kathirmathiyon told The Hindu that shifting the bus stop at the Lawley Road and Maruthamalai Road Junction was recommended by the then District Collector on June 16, 2011. The issue was taken up as the bus stop forced other vehicle users to queue up behind buses that stopped at the bus stop in the evenings.
“Four years have gone and this issue has been repeatedly represented 12 times since then, but the bus stop has not been shifted so far,” he said and added that there were a few more bus stops that need to be relocated to ease flow of vehicles in the city where vehicle population is on the rise.
The officials have jumped into action after this issue was discussed in detail at the District Road Safety Council Meeting, chaired by District Collector Archana Patnaik on Thursday. Officials, who took part in meeting, said that the Collector had instructed them to ensure the relocations proposed long ago after joint inspections by the Corporation, transport and police officials were done before the next meeting.
Corporation officials said that Corporation Commissioner K. Vijayakarthikeyan, who was also present in the meeting, had asked officials to complete the shifting in a week. A senior Corporation official said that they had instructed private parties to relocate the bus stop on Lawley Road and the one near Gujarati Samaj on Mettupalayam Road in a couple of days.
Other bus stops that are to be shifted are: Ondipudur bus stop near the bridge on Ramanathapuram direction; Singanallur bus stop near the police station on Tiruchi Road and the bus stop opposite bus stand; Hope College bus stop from that junction to a location further away on Avinashi direction; stops on either side of Esso Bunk; Aalamaram stop at Vadavallai; Ganapathy Bus Stop towards Saravanampatti and the bus stop at Lala Corner.
“We are trying to shift these bus stops in a week,” the official said.
On the other hand, road safety activists have asked the police to ensure that the buses stop at bus stops and crew of the buses that stop abruptly at busy junction are punished. They have suggested imposing heavy fines and suspension of licences of drivers and conductors of such buses.
