Madurai City Traffic Police have diverted buses proceeding from Goripalayam junction to MGR Integrated Bus Stand at Mattuthavani through Gandhi Museum Road to avoid traffic congestion on Gokhale Road where the ramp for the elevated corridor on New Natham Road is being constructed.
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The diversion was effected from Monday, bringing relief to Deepavali shoppers. Buses coming from Goripalayam junction must take a right turn from Gokhale Road on Tirumukkulam South Lane and reach Alagarkoil Road and again take a right turn to reach Tamukkam bus stop.
“Since, all the three roads - Gokhale Road, Tirumukkulam South Street and Alagarkoil Road - are one way, the drivers of buses do not face any inconvenience in taking the diverted route,” a senior traffic police official said. Besides, metal barricades have been placed on the Alagarkoil Road junction to segregate vehicles coming from Outpost and Gokhale Road.
From Tamukkam bus stop, the buses will take a left turn into Gandhi Museum Road and go through Dr. Thangaraj Salai to reach Melur Road at the roundabout near District Court Complex.
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This way the buses need to skip only the Vishaal de Mal and Outpost (old university) bus stops. However, passengers who want to alight at these bus stops can take other buses proceeding towards Oomachikulam (New Natham Road) and K. Pudur (Alagarkoil Road).
The new arrangement has eased traffic congestion on Gokhale Road ahead of IOC roundabout to a great extent as two-wheelers, autorickshaws and cars can have more carriage space, at a time when the volume of traffic is high in the last few days ahead of Deepavali.
As many as 1,000 buses, including mofusil buses, have been diverted. The option of diverting the buses through Panagal Road from Goripalayam was not explored as it would mean the buses had to skip four bus stops - Tamukkam, Tallakulam, Vishaal de Mal and Outpost, he added.