In what will be a huge relief for commuters, the road space occupied by Chennai Metro for work on phase I will be cleared by the end of the month and regular traffic flow will resume.
In various locations on Anna Salai like Government Estate, LIC and Thousand Lights, the road space has remained constricted for over six years now due to the construction of Chennai Metro rail’s underground network.
According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), the construction work of additional entry/exit points on Anna Salai is likely to be over in another two weeks.
“A few months back, when the final stretch between AG-DMS till Washermanpet was opened, we had only two entry/exit points functional in most of the stations. After that, we have been concentrating on finishing the work for the remaining entry/exit points. Now, it is almost over and we should complete everything in two weeks and open Anna Salai for regular traffic before the end of this month,” an official said.
In talks
CMRL authorities have been in talks with the Chennai Traffic Police as well to resolve this issue at the earliest.
“We are insisting that Chennai Metro finishes the work quickly so that we can have free flow of traffic. The work is on, day and night. We expect the resumption of two-way traffic on the arterial Anna Salai within a month,” said a senior traffic police official.
Commuters say that it gets quite tough to travel through Anna Salai during peak hours. Ranjan Mehta, a resident of Royapettah, who travels to his workplace in Chintadripet said covering this short distance by car takes about half an hour because of traffic congestion exacerbated by reduced road width.
