With traffic chaos having become order of the day on Vayalur Road from Puthur four-road junction, residents want an elevated corridor to overcome the problem.
Except a few villages, including Uyyakondan Thirumalai, there was hardly any residential colony on both sides of Vayalur Road until early 1980s. It was only a village road catering to the need of farmers. But, within four decades, the road, which was upgraded from a village road to State Highway, has become one of the busiest roads in the city in terms of vehicular traffic, thanks to the establishment of a number of residential colonies for about 10 km from Puthur.
Several residential colonies have sprung up in the area during the last four decades. Numerous shops and business establishments have also come up on both the sides. The exponential growth of residential colonies is expanding beyond Somarasampettai, thereby increasing the vehicle pressure on the Vayalur Road. It is struggling to cope with prolific growth of vehicle population.
It is not just on weekdays and peak hours, traffic snarls occur on holidays too. No motorist can reach Somarasampettai from Puthur without facing traffic snarls. It takes at least 30 minutes for motorists to reach Somarasampettai from Puthur.
There were instances of State Highways clearing encroachments on both sides in the past. But, there was no move to expand the width of the road for so many years. The narrow road continues to trouble the motorists.
“There are so many cut roads leading to several residential colonies from Vayalur Road. The residents have no other option but to join the road from their respective colonies to go to their destinations in the city. It is not so easy to join the main road,” says S. Kannan, a longtime resident of Kumaran Nagar.
The traffic situation would worsen further in the near future. It could be solved with the construction of an elevated corridor from Puthur to Somarasampettai. Otherwise, an alternative solution should be found out.
However, Highway officials are of the view that the stretch was not viable for an elevated corridor. Formation of parallel road could be explored. It might solve the issue to an extent.
Published - June 29, 2019 09:07 pm IST
