Chennai: Commuters on 100 Feet Road, near Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus weretaken aback when they saw iron blocks along the thoroughfare preventing motorists from using around 11ft of the road on either side of the median. The blocks were lined by tape police usually use to cordon off crime scenes. But this was not the handiwork of the city police.
As part of a three-day experiment, the Chennai traffic police placed iron blocks 3.5m from either side of the median near CMBT on Tuesday. This is to see how traffic flow will be affected once the highways department takes over the blocked portion to build a flyover. "The blocks will be removed by Thursday morning and we will start work on the flyover's foundation within a week," said an engineer from the metro wing of the state highways department.
The proposed flyover will be 1.1km long and start some 100m before CMBT. It will land after it crosses the Kaliamman Koil Street junction, just before the DMDK headquarters.
"The flyover will have four lanes and will decongest this portion of the arterial road," said the engineer.
Traffic police from Koyambedu say that they have not noticed any problem with the new arrangement so far. "Early in the mornings, there is some congestion as buses enter the terminus. We will post extra men and move the auto stand to ensure there is free flow," said Koyambedu traffic inspector Ramasamy.
Residents of the locality say it is high time the flyover comes up.
"There are too many things happening at this junction. You have private omni buses, MTC buses and SETC buses passing through. You also have the vegetable market which attracts thousands of vendors and shoppers, besides local traffic and traffic leaving the city," said secretary of Natesan Nagar Civic Association M Natarajan. The locality is just off Kaliamman Koil Street which is a gateway to Virugambakkam and Porur.
"While we can live with the mess the construction would cause, we hope it gets completed within the stipulated time. Otherwise, it is going to be a nightmare," he added.
Officials say the construction would have begun earlier but was postponed because of the elections.
"We would have handed out the work orders in May but could not due to themodel code of conduct," the engineer said.
The project is scheduled to be completed by April 2018 and officials are confident that there will be no delay. The biggest bottlenecks for the project are land acquisition and clearances from the traffic police.
"Land acquisition isgoing smoothly. And since the road is pretty broad, we are confident police will give us the clearance," the engineer said.
Studies by the department show that only one-third of the traffic volume on the road goes inside CMBT. This includes buses taking a turn inside the terminus and vendors going to the market.
"During the festive season and holidays, it increases dramatically. The flyover will ease the congestion," added the engineer.
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