Traffic snarls back in Madurai city

MADURAI: Snarl-ups have become a daily affair at many junctions in Madurai during peak hours as vehicles are back on roads post lockdown. With education institutions poised to reopen, this is expected to get worse.
Recently, heavy traffic on the NMR Subburaman Bridge at Villapuram caused a corporation vehicle transporting dumper bins to lose control and break the side walls of the bridge.“Madurai corporation has said that dumper bins are being cleared between 9pm and 5am in many parts of the city. But removal of bins during peak hours always causes traffic problems,” says M Chandran of Villapuram. During peak hours from 8am to 10am, the situation is very bad, and the corporation should ensure that the bins in this region are cleaned during night, he said.

Melamadai junction witnesses traffic congestion almost throughout the day. The road, already a narrow stretch, has become narrower after the installation of the median. On the two-kilometre stretch from Melamadai to PC Perungayam junction, only one vehicle can move on the road at many places, where encroachments have not been removed. “At times one has to wait nearly 10 minutes to cross the road at the junction. Some motorists go to the other side of the median and barricades to bring traffic in the opposite direction to a standstill,” said K Ganeshan of Anna Nagar. Even ambulances have a nightmare finding way in these circumstances. Around 20 of them get stuck every day in the traffic jam, said Anbu, a driver.
“When education institutions start functioning, it will be chaotic. The medians were constructed during the first lockdown when there was less traffic on the stretch,” said A Asokan of Tahsildar Nagar. “The Melamadai-PC Perungayam Road has more than 100 buses and vans travelling during peak hours in the morning and evening,” said D Raghavan. Installing medians without widening the roads and encroachments are the major problems causing snarl-ups on the stretch, said residents.
Teppakulam junction is another spot which witnesses frequent traffic jams. Here, roads are narrow, some are under renovation, and vehicles are parked on the road sides making it difficult for big vehicles to move. Work on the Kuruvikkaran Salai Bridge has to be completed to see whether the problem eases to some extent, said K Joseph, a resident of Chinthamani.
Another hotspot is Periyar junction, which is witnessing jams through the day, and it remains to be seen what would be the situation when the new bus bay is completed. The problem is not going to end soon, say commuters.