The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) is planning to shift the Vijayanagar bus terminus in Velachery to the MRTS railway station there. The development comes in the wake of the State Highways Department asking the MTC to shift the terminus to facilitate the construction of the flyover at the Vijayanagar signal. The State Highways department is constructing a flyover linking three roads: Velachery Main Road, Bypass Road and Taramani Link Road.
A senior official of the MTC said the officials of the State Highways Department had recently informed them that the terminus would have to be shifted to make way for the construction of a pier. MTC officials have asked for more time for the terminus to be shifted.
The shift to the MRTS station is only a temporary measure, says officials. Traffic Police officials say the Vijayanagar junction is one of the most congested zones in the city as the terminus is located near the junction. The MTC operates more than 10 bus routes consisting of 98 buses originating from the Vijayanagar bus terminus and 15 bus services comprising 250 buses pass through the bus terminus.
Multi-modal facility
While shifting the bus terminus to the Velachery railway station could help in facilitating a multi-modal travel arrangement on the lines of the Central railway station, there are some practical difficulties. An MTC official said likely issues include space constraints for parking of buses on the service road and the lack of room for buses to turn if they operate from the railway station which has been unevenly paved with concrete.
Even if the bus terminus is shifted, the MTC proposes to use the present terminus as a stopover facility with a few bus services planned to be operated from the present location. The senior MTC official said only some of the bus services would be diverted to the MRTS railway station.
While the MTC has some issues pertaining to the infrastructure available, the pedestrians are concerned that the shifting of the terminus would add to the traffic congestion on the ‘narrow’ service road.
M. Panneerselvam, a resident of Bethel Avenue in Velachery, said the station road, despite being a wide road, has become narrow because of encroachment by hawkers and unauthorised parking of vehicles.
Though the State Highways Department has taken steps to pave a wide pedestrian pathway, the commuters are unable to use it because of hawkers. Shops and retail outlets located along the road have taken over the pathway.
In these circumstances, residents want the Traffic Police and the State Highways Department to take steps to prevent unauthorised parking of vehicles and remove hawkers to ease traffic flow.
