The slow pace of the ongoing pedestrian underpass work is taking a toll on the traffic movement along the busy Chennai - Bengaluru Highway (NH-48) with vehicles, especially goods-laden lorries and trailers, taking at least 15 minutes to pass through the Vellore - Katpadi intersection.
On Friday, a trailer that was proceeding towards Chennai was stopped on the highway near the intersection by the traffic police and the officials of the Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T), which executes the underpass project on behalf of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), as the trailer was wider than the narrow road space available for vehicles on the highway, which has a median too.
As a result, other vehicles were diverted to the service lane for a distance of around 500 metres before the vehicles were allowed to join the highway again. "An alternative traffic arrangement, including diversion of lorries and trucks to service lanes, especially during night with safety features will be introduced soon," said a senior police officer in Vellore.
As per the existing traffic arrangement, two-wheelers, autorickshaws and cars use the service lanes on either side of the highway to reach Vellore and Katpadi via the Green Circle and the bridge across the dry Palar river.
Other vehicles, especially container lorries and trailers, have to use the narrow road space available near the underpass work area on the highway. Many times, especially during night, long trailer vehicles find it difficult to negotiate the narrow road space at the intersection on the stretch. Currently, a police patrol team has been deployed at the intersection to regulate traffic.
At present, the work on the underpass has been completed towards Benguluru. The roof work is being done on the box type structure towards Chennai.
Around 20 feet of carriageway space has been given for vehicles on the highway at the intersection. Motorists said that the intersection is a key route for Vellore as most of the government offices and public institutions are located near the intersection.
The ₹2-crore-pedestrian underpass will be 25 metres in length, 5.5 metres in width and 3 metres in height. It will have equipment to pump out water, CCTV cameras and LED street lights. Three such underpasses will be built.
