The illegal parking of inter-State trucks is creating bottlenecks on the Kozhikode-Vengali stretch of the Beach Road, road users have complained. Trucks are parked for hours along the road creating traffic snarls on the seven-km-long newly renovated road.
“On the Bhatt Road and Vellayil beach, you can see the long line of such illegally parked lorries, occupying around half the portion of the wide road. Some of the drivers even repair their vehicles on the road, misusing the space,” says N. Aravindan, an employee at a nearby exporting firm. He points out that the unrestrained parking of large number of trucks for unloading and cleaning jobs is also discouraging many from making use of the recently renovated walkways.
Freak accidents, when motorists try to pass the illegally parked vehicles, are also common on the route now. Traders and youth organisation leaders at Vellayil coastal area say bigger trucks largely obstruct the road visibility and drivers are finding it hard to see the pedestrians who wait to cross the road alongside the goods carriers.
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“Drivers, who are new to the route, have the tendency to carelessly pass the illegally parked vehicles by suddenly shifting the lane. All such attempts end up in collision with other trailing vehicles,” says Jamsheer, a functionary of a local youth club near Vellayil. He says the lack of proper lighting on the route has also doubled the risk.
Meanwhile, traffic police say their day-night patrolling team is acting sternly against such reckless drivers who misuse the space.