The road junction where Tiruchi-Thoothukudi Ring Road and Madurai-Sivaganga Road intersect could be called the tip of the Madurai-Tiruchi four-lane highway.
The traffic signal here assumes a greater significance, considering the higher number of vehicles and the high speed at which most of them pass through. Ring Road on this stretch (Tiruchi-Thoothukudi) is wide enough, matching the four-lane highway. However, the Sivaganga highway has only two-lane carriage way with a median.
With hundreds of school and college buses and vans and autorickshaws carrying students passing through the junction every morning and evening, operation of signal has become more pertinent to ensure safety of road users.
The city police have put up an elaborate signalling system on all four sides along with a closed circuit television camera network at the junction.
Though automatic signal system is available here, the peak hour traffic is so high that it mandates a policeman to manually operate the signal at the four-road junction.
Good aspect of the junction is that it has got adequate number of traffic islands to keep vehicles moving in different directions way apart. Even the lanes that take vehicles on the Sivaganga Road towards the junction have speed breakers to keep a check on the speed.
However, the thorn in the junction is the bottleneck in the road on Sivaganga side. To add to the existing problem is haphazard halting of buses, mini-buses and rickshaws at the bus stop there. Shifting of the bus stop some 100 metres towards Karuppayoorani will decongest the junction.
Besides, passengers proceeding towards Airport, Thoothukudi and Virudhunagar tend to stand on the traffic island on the southern side to board buses. Here too the buses stop on the road, creating congestion. “We do make frequent announcements on the public address system appealing to the passengers to move a little further south to the bus stop for their safety,” said a policeman manning the signal.
However, four-lane road users are often stunned by the existence of the signal here. “They often complain that they never expect signals on the four-way and the signals need to be operated carefully, considering the high speed at which these vehicles ply,” the policeman said.
However, the only solution for ensuring smoother passage and higher degree of safety for road users here is to construct a flyover.
“A flyover will certainly be of great help,” said A. Shahul Hameed, a van driver, who transports school children.
A flyover at the junction promised by then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in 2012 still remains on paper.
