Pedestrians perennially face risk of accidents on Chennai roads

Studies point out several junctions lack facilities, existing infrastructure found to be inadequate or faulty; senior citizens face the brunt

Residents who participated in public consultations a few years ago demanded simple pedestrian infrastructure.

Conflict between pedestrians and vehicles at a number of junctions in the city has worsened, increasing the risk of accidents in the locations.

According to recent studies on mobility in the city, increased pedestrian movement has been observed in the Chennai Business District and commercial areas compared to other locations. Pedestrian crossings at junctions and key roads in the city ranged between 3,988 and 57,968 for twelve hours every day.

In the study area, heavy pedestrian movement was observed in areas such as the Egmore railway station, South Usman Road in front of T. Nagar bus stand, Arcot Road at Porur junction and near Meenakshi College, Koyambedu junction, College Road junction and Cathedral Road. The rush hour at pedestrian crossings is observed at a number of locations in the city between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Police inaction

Kothai Jayaraman, a resident of Anna Nagar, said the number of accidents has increased at several junctions because of lack of pedestrian facilities. “Senior citizens are finding it difficult to cross the road in the vicinity of the Thirumangalam junction. More than five policemen are always there, collecting fine from motorists. But they are not bothered about helping pedestrians cross the road. The civic infrastructure for pedestrians is not good at all,” he said.

Similarly, the Sterling Road junction is another key location where pedestrians wait for a long time to cross. “Speeding vehicles on Haddows Road scare us.A pedestrian grade separator has been constructed with a faulty design there and we cannot cross. Senior citizens want civic agencies to tackle speeding vehicles on such stretches,” says B. Saravanan, a resident of Nungambakkkam.

The Comprehensive Mobility Plan for the metropolitan area in 2019 has proposed grade separators for pedestrians at the Sterling Road junction and 24 other junctions, including Arcot Road near Meenakshi College and Broadway. In the past, Corporation announced proposals to develop pedestrian foot overbridges at five locations including the aforementioned ones. Residents who participated in public consultations at Ripon Building, a few years ago, demanded simple pedestrian infrastructure with active participation of the Traffic police to solve these problems.

But the Corporation shelved the projects, citing reasons such as Metro Rail.

Proposals mooted

Now, following complaints by residents about lack of facilities, the Chennai Corporation, Highways Department and the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority have resumed discussion on the proposals to reduce the risk to pedestrians.

In the initial discussions, the agencies found that more than 25 locations lack pedestrian facilities. The discussions revolved around skywalks in areas such as Egmore, Tondiarpet and Tambaram and on mobilising funds for a few select locations. “Such pedestrian friendly projects require a lot of funding,” a civic official said. Chennai Corporation former floor leader V. Sukumar Babu said the Corporation and the Traffic police should conduct coordination meetings and brainstorming sessions to find a solution to the problems faced by pedestrians in all locations. “The pedestrian facilities should be easy to build and useful for the common man,” said Mr. Babu.

Corporation officials, who have experience in designing pedestrian facilities, said traffic police have been reluctant to listen to expert opinions in the design of pedestrian-friendly facilities.