If there is one road that Madurai can be proud of, it should be the Bypass Road – from TNSTC regional head office in the south to Fatima College junction in the north. This stretch has three lanes on either side of the median, good signages and markings, and above all, there is a service road to boot on either side.
An automatic traffic signal which was commissioned at Guru Theatre junction a few years back remained dysfunctional. But once the road was widened and median was built from Kalavasal to Kamaraj bridge across the Vaigai, this signal has been revived.
It has become an important junction for Arapalayam terminus-bound vehicles. Here starts the problem. The DD Road that links Guru Theatre junction with AA Road in Arapalayam is not wide enough to receive the heavy traffic from the Bypass Road. Hence mofussil buses coming from Theni side and taking a right turn to the bus stand and buses from Dindigul highway that try to take a free left turn to DD Road completely block vehicles that get green signal to go towards Kalavasal.
To make matters worse, on seeing vehicles piling up at the signal to exit DD Road, impatient two-wheeler riders stop on the wrong side of the median and block vehicles taking a right turn to go to Arapalayam.
Ironically, though there are broad zebra crossings, there are no pedestrian signals to guide them. Moreover, there are no clear markings on where vehicles should stop – the result of lack of coordination between the police and Corporation authorities.
After the median was laid, all vehicles coming from and going to the numerous lanes and by-lanes in Bethaniapuram have been forced to use the signal. The vehicles exiting Bethaniapuram at the signal near the traffic police booth take up all the space of the narrow road giving little space to incoming vehicles.
An exasperated policeman here said, “People never heed our advice which we give for their good on the public address system. The worst offenders are share autorickshaw drivers. They just stop anywhere they please at the signal, though we cry hoarse on the PA system.”
An electrical appliances trader near the signal said the traffic at the signal and Arapalayam bus stand area increased considerably after the link from Bypass Road to the southern bank road along the Vaigai near Kamaraj bridge was blocked by the median. Moreover, share autos and mini buses are either parked near the bus bay meant for Samayanallur and Alanganallur route buses or block it.
As the police are planning to divert Arapalyam-bound mofussil buses from Fatima College through the new bridge at Aruldosspuram, it is expected that some of the problems at Guru Theatre junction will vanish soon.
