The EVR Periyar Salai-Stanley viaduct junction is by far one of the most congested in the city.
Part of the chaos is due to the large number of pedestrians passing by the area between Moore Market Complex suburban railway station and Park Town Station of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS). Commuters face great difficulty in walking in the area as the footpath on the viaduct is quite narrow. They also risk accidents with a lot of vehicles speeding by. Work on the Metro Rail project in the area has only accentuated the problem and the junction has become a bottleneck.
The Corporation, in order to ease the congestion and to provide a safe pathway, has proposed to open the access road located under the Stanley viaduct linking the MRTS railway station and EVR Periyar Salai.
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A senior official of the civic body said that the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority had suggested opening the access road located beneath the Pallavan Salai viaduct that had been shut down several years ago by the Southern Railway because of poor maintenance. “Opening this access road after ensuring proper maintenance and lighting and deploying security personnel would help reducing the density of crowds on the viaduct,” he pointed out.
However, the civic body is unable to go ahead with the project, as the Southern Railway is yet to hand over the place. This is despite an official communication two months ago.