Residents of East Tambaram have appealed to the State Highways Department and the Chennai City Traffic Police to lay speed-breakers and take action against those parking vehicles haphazardly on the service lane of Velachery Main Road, abutting Tambaram flyover. The arterial road is maintained by State Highways Department.
Right from a pedestrian signal and a traffic signal opposite Tambaram railway station, cars and autorickshaws are parked on the carriageway.
Bus and train commuters are forced to squeeze themselves through the vehicles or risk their lives by walking on the carriageway. The risk is higher near the entrance of Tambaram flyover, towards Grand Southern Trunk Road and Mudichur Road, West Tambaram.
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Motorists, especially autorickshaw drivers and MTC bus drivers, come at a break-neck speed while entering the service lane, which provides easy access to East Tambaram bus terminus. The service lane is frequented by school students who proceed to MES Road, which has many private schools. “The thoroughfare is a nightmare for pedestrians as the walkers’ path has been encroached upon by commercial establishments. Only at a few spots on the road, the pavements are conducive for movement of pedestrians. Due to the absence of speed-breakers, motorists speed and engage in rash driving, posing a threat to the safety of road-users,” says T. Mohan Thomas, a resident of East Tambaram.
Buses and other vehicles are parked, abutting the walkers’ path, near a church in East Tambaram, forcing pedestrians to walk in the middle of the road. On the western side of the service lane towards Camp Road, the spacious pavements have been encroached upon by fortune-tellers. A Chennai Traffic Police personnel says, “Steps will be taken to tow unauthorised parking of vehicles on the stretch.”