For a distance of 500 metres, Paper Mills Road near Four Cross Road junction has separate lanes for different vehicles. A special lane for walkers and cyclists is the highlight.
The initiative — introduced on June 14 when lockdown restrictions were eased — serves obvious purposes: regulating traffic flow, improving lane discipline and checking unnecessary movement of vehicles.
Many motorists from Kolathur, Agaram, Madhavaram Milk Colony, Mathur, Moolakadai, Majambakkam, Red Hills and Puzhal use the stretch to get to the central parts of Chennai. The stretch also serves as a short route to reach the rest of the city, especially key roads like Anna Salai and Kamaraj Salai, making the travel easier than if one were to take the congested CTH Road and Konnur High Road.
“The stretch has been divided into many columns to restrict vehicular movement especially for non-essential activities. The streets that connect to the main road have also been barricaded to prevent unnecessary movement of vehicles and people,” a traffic police officer points out.
Creating “temporary lanes” around Four Cross Road junction has helped check unnecessary movement of vehicles especially two-wheelers, say police personnel . On an average, at least five police personnel are deployed at each of the three checkpoints near the junction. As per the existing traffic arrangement, motorists coming from Paper Mills Road take a right turn below the flyover to reach areas like Jamaliya and Ayanavaram via the subway. Likewise, motorists coming from Perambur Main Road, along the railway station in Perambur, have to come straight below the flyover to reach Paper Mills Road. The ramp of the flyover from Paper Mills Road and Perambur Main Road can be reached via the subway.
With the widening work remaining in cold storage for many years due to challenges in land acquisition, Paper Mills Road remains narrow for the most part. At present, the stretch does not have a wide footpath, median, a lane for buses at four bus stops, reflectors and speed breakers. Small concrete slabs have been placed on the stretch for a distance of around 200 metres to prevent motorists from jumping on to the opposite lane, especially during rush hour.
