The completion of construction work of the new road overbridge, as part of the four-laning of Tiruchi–Thanjavur national highway at Ariyamangalam in the city, brought much cheer to vehicle users.
Their joy, however, turned out to be short lived, as traffic snarls are frequently witnessed on the new ROB too, thanks to the indifferent attitude of drivers and two-wheeler riders. The traffic congestion on the new bridge is ubiquitous despite the presence of police personnel on both ends of the bridge to regulate traffic.
Due to the construction of the new ROB, traffic was allowed to move via the adjacent old bridge, running parallel to the new bridge. Traffic congestion became the order of the day on the Palpannai-Ariyamangalam section of the NH, as the old bridge could not hold the heavy flow of traffic.
The new bridge was thrown open for traffic last week and it raised lot of expectations among vehicle users, who felt that it would reduce traffic congestion on the section. Contrary to expectations, traffic holds up are witnessed on the new ROB every now and then, causing much hardship to all sections of society.
Though the police regularise movement of vehicles and allow them to move on a single line at the mouth of the bridge on both directions, the indifferent attitude of cars and the two-wheeler riders in jumping the queue on the overbridge has proved to be the main cause for traffic congestion.
The two-wheeler riders in particular use every inch of space available on the bridge to overtake the other vehicles, which only lead to traffic snarls.
The NHAI has already commenced the work on strengthening and renovating the existing ROB to accommodate traffic on opposite direction. All sections of society have pleaded for speeding up the ongoing works and complete the same at the earliest.
