Meeting a long-felt need, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has begun work on widening the service lanes on either side of Tiruchi-Chennai Bypass Road near the TVS Tollgate Junction and also the carriageway on Thanjavur-Tiruchi NH stretch at Ariyamangalam traffic intersection in the city.
The narrow service lanes near TVS Tollgate have emerged as traffic bottlenecks as the two-lane service roads arenarrow and the bus halts close to the junction.
The service road leading towards Golden Rock from TVS Tollgate Junction has, in particular, become a dangerous stretch as vehicles from different directions converge at the spot. A large number of vehicles take left from the junction to head towards Golden Rock.
A slew of hotels and roadside eateries has come up along the service lane close to the junction in recent years and visitors invariably park their vehicles on the roadside. With police turning a blind eye to the problem of indiscriminate parking, road users face a harrowing time.
Besides, whenever mofussil and town buses halt at the bus stops on either side, there will be a pile-up of vehicles. Despite a few policemen being on duty constantly on the road overbridge at the junction, chaotic traffic conditions prevail.
Hence, widening of the road stretch near the junction is expected to help ease the situation. However, road users say roadside parking in front of hotels and eateries need to be regulated. “A large number of vehicles can be seen parked along service lanes, constricting road space. With the service lane leading to Golden Rock catering to a heavy traffic volume, it is a must that some sort of order is restored,”says R.Gopal, a commuter.
NHAI is currently engaged in building storm water drains on the project stretch and the works are expected to be completed shortly.
NHAI has also begun road development works at Ariyamangalam junction where a stretch of road is being widened to allow smooth free left turn on the carriageway leading to the city from Thanjavur. Work on construction of storm water drains is also underway at the site.
The narrow road stretch at the junction has resulted in traffic snarls and there has been persistent demands to widen the short stretch to allow a free left turn for vehicles heading towards Senthaneerpuram.
