The Highways Department will soon prepare proposals for construction of foot overbridges (FOBs) at two more points in the city — the MKN Road junction at Alandur and near AGS Church at Little Mount. These are junctions where the traffic flow is heavy and pedestrians find it difficult to cross.
This comes after its previous proposal of five pedestrian subways had to be dropped, with the Chennai Metrowater stating that it could not shift water mains at two points and other locations on Jawaharlal Nehru Salai at Ekkattuthangal and Kasi Theatre being close to traffic signals.
“Based on the pedestrian movement at the two points, a decision on provision of escalators, ramps and elevators would be taken. Land availability would also be a factor,” an official in the Department said.
Saidapet resident M. Vishnuram said that at Little Mount, traffic from Velachery too joined Anna Salai, making things difficult for pedestrians. “On Sundays, the traffic is really bad here and it takes almost five minutes for crossing the road. If there is a pedestrian facility, it would really help,” he said.
A. Senthil, who works in Guindy, said a pedestrian crossing facility must be provided at the stretch between the Guindy bridge and the Chellammal College junction on the GST Road. “Last year, there was a major accident in which four girls were killed when they were trying to cross the road. It is a pity that the government is still not working out a solution for pedestrians on this stretch. It is very difficult to cross that stretch at night since policemen would not be available at all times,” he said.
