Work on construction of a pedestrian subway under the two flyovers at Retteri junction on Jawaharlal Nehru (J.N) Salai, which is maintained by the State Highways Department, is progressing at a good clip.
More than 80% of the work, including tunnelling of the subway connecting both ends of the stretch, construction of staircases and plastering of the subway, has been completed. The remaining work which involves installing electrical fittings and painting will be completed in a month.
At present, the narrow Retteri junction does not have a separate pedestrian-crossing. Pedestrians now have to negotiate the section while motorists are waiting for a green signal to cross the junction. Pedestrians can be seen running from one end to another to cross the junction as they have to rush before the green signal gives way to the red at the junction.
As space on all the connecting roads at the junction are narrow, pedestrians have to squeeze themselves between vehicles to cross the junction.
“During rush hour, we have to wait for a long time due to constant movement of vehicles,” says K. Babu, a resident of Retteri.
As per the plan, the subway will connect Kolathur with Surapet at Retteri junction. Once the work on the construction of the second flyover is completed, the stretch under the two flyovers will be used as a service lane to reach Surapet and Kolathur. With this arrangement, there will not be any hindrance to motorists between Anna Nagar and Madhavaram.
As commercial shops and houses line the stretch, more cyclists, it has a huge volume of pedestrian and vehicular traffic. So, the subway is being built to ensure safety of pedestrians, once the second flyover is opened. Under the two flyovers, traffic signal will be in place to regulate small vehicles from Surapet and Kolathur.
Every day, hundreds of motorists from Madhavaram, Puzhal, Red Hills, Ambattur, Mathur, Kolathur, Manali, and Ennore use the Retteri junction to reach other parts of the city via Anna Nagar and Tirumangalam. The junction provides easy access to Perambur, Kilpauk, Purasawalkam and Park Town via Kolathur and Thiru Vi Kaa Nagar.
Currently, motorists from Anna Nagar can proceed straight towards Madhavaram junction by taking the first bridge, which was opened in 2016. Whereas, motorists from Anna Nagar have to take right or left turn to go to Kolathur and Surapet and have to go under the completed flyover to Retteri junction where the work on the second flyover is in progress.
Similarly, motorists from Madhavaram have to cross the Retteri junction along the narrow path due to the ongoing bridge work. With the intersection and the connecting stretches such as Kolathur and Surapet have become narrow, motorists have to wait for a long time to cross the junction every day.
Motorists from Kolathur have to cross the junction to reach J.N. Main Road through a narrow culvert that has no streetlights and has low sidewalls.
