Residents of V.G.P. Selva Nagar and Bhuvaneshwari Nagar have requested the Chennai Traffic Police to establish a u-turn between Vijaya Nagar bus terminus and Velachery flyover.
At present, motorists are forced to go up to the intersection of Annai Indira Gandhi Nagar Railway Station Road and Southern Sector Inner Ring Road to take a u-turn. “To avoid going all the way to take a u-turn, motorists come in the wrong direction on both sides of the stretch,” G. Subramanian, a pedestrian, said.
Moreover, there are no pavements on both sides of this section of Velachery Main Road and pedestrians are forced to walk in the middle of the road. Also, vehicles are parked haphazardly on both sides of the stretch up to the Velachery MRTS railway station.
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“Pavements with bollards should be constructed to prevent motorcyclists from parking their vehicles on the footpath,” Subramanian said. There is no designated pedestrian-crossing between the terminus and the flyover. Earlier, pedestrians crossing the arterial thoroughfare (Velachery Main Road) dodging speeding vehicles on the flyover at the entry (towards Velachery from East Tambaram) and exit (towards East Tambaram from Velachery) points, was a common sight. Pedestrians jaywalk on the stretch between the terminus and the flyover and pedestrians crossing the intersection of Vijaya Nagar Main Road and Velachery Bypass Road, Velachery, are at a greater risk for accidents.
Motorists coming from Guindy (Velachery Bypass Road), Medavakkam (Velachery Main Road) and Thiruvanmiyur (Velachery Main Road and Velachery-Taramani Link Road) and proceed towards Thiruvanmiyur, Guindy and Medavakkam, jump the red signal, making it difficult for pedestrians to reach the other side of the road. Chennai Traffic Police said a decision on creating a u-turn can be taken only after conducting a feasibility study.