Pedestrians have requested the Chennai Traffic Police to widen the waiting area near a median at a zebra-crossing near National Institute of Sidddha, Tambaram Sanatorium. For, at present, only one person can wait near the zebra-crossing and others have to stand in the carriageway of Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road.
Earlier, there were two waiting areas near the median but now one waiting area has been blocked. “Crossing the stretch is an ordeal and a nightmare for pedestrians. Motorists speed and overtake and do not stop for pedestrians to cross the road,” says P. Jayanthi, a resident of Tambaram Sanatorium.
Often, pedestrians dart across the arterial road, amidst speeding vehicles. The other options for pedestrians are to cross at the intersection of GST Road and Durga Nagar Road or use the Madras Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) foot overbridge. However, pedestrians avoid both the options due to various reasons, including haphazard parking of vehicles. Near the MEPZ foot overbridge, juice vendors have come up in large numbers and visitors to these stalls park their vehicles haphazardly. Besides, the thoroughfare near the foot overbridge is dumped with garbage and is used as an open toilet by passers-by.
