Faulty or non-functioning of traffic signals or even lack of proper visibility of the signals in several places on the main roads of the city confuse and pose risk to commuters, especially during the peak hours. For instance, those coming towards the city on Avanashi Road might not get a clear view of the traffic signal at the Hope College junction and the PSGR Krishnammal College junction as elevated tops of traffic umbrellas block the visibility of the traffic signals.
Similarly, in some places, the timers have not been adjusted according to the flow of traffic. If vehicles using the main road have 60 seconds to cross a junction, the timer for vehicles coming to the junction from an arterial road is also fixed at 60 seconds. Thus, when there are no vehicles from the arterial road, those waiting on the main road might tend to violate rules, leading to accidents. Timings allotted for various roads at such junctions will have to be proportionate to the volume of traffic.
Apart from such problems, the signals do not function in some places. Police sources say this is because the contract for maintenance has not been renewed. The civic body and the city police proposed to float tenders to get sponsorship in lieu of advertisement rights and use the money to maintain all the signals. However, delay in executing the plan has forced commuters to get confused as they use the poorly maintained signals and timers as many LED lights do not turn on.