165cr T Nagar steel flyover fails to ease festive traffic congestion

Chennai: The newly inaugurated steel flyover connecting South Usman Road with CIT Nagar has failed to deliver on its promise of easing traffic congestion.Chief minister M K Stalin on Tuesday had inaugurated the new 1.2km flyover costing 164.9 crore, which links with the existing 800m long North Usman Road flyover.Although commuters on Sunday crossed the two-km stretch from CIT Nagar to North Usman Road in a few minutes, they were made to wait at the four-way Vivek's junction right at the flyover's exit, as traffic police do not have a plan at the moment to handle the increased influx of vehicles. Before the flyover was constructed, vehicles entered from Anna Salai to T Nagar through Venkatnarayana Road via the Link Road to South West Boag Road, and reached this junction through Panagal Park with less frequency. These vehicles came slower too due to the congested interior stretches.With the opening of flyover, a higher number of vehicles end up at the junction directly from Anna Salai in just two minutes, while vehicles also enter from routine routes beneath the flyover from Venkatnarayana Road, Thyagaraya Road, and from Duraiswamy subway. "After the new flyover opened, traffic is being regulated only through manual signals, with police directing vehicles," said S Raja, assistant commissioner of traffic, T Nagar. Officials said the timers will be realigned once the traffic density is assessed. Raja added that the congestion was also partly due to the festive crowd, and will continue until Diwali. "We are in talks with the MTC regarding diversion of buses from Valluvar Kottam," he added.Residents said localised enforcement, such as removing illegal parking and roadside encroachments outside business hubs can mitigate the mess for now."Even if they built a three-km flyover, congestion would persist because encroachments are the biggest stumbling block. Roadside parking worsens the situation further. Even textile and jewellery shop customers often park vehicles on the road, while police turn a blind eye after taking bribes," said Sukesh Ramakrishna, a commuter.GCC commissioner J Kumaragurubaran said that the immediate solution was to reduce the signal timings at Vivek's so that vehicles can move faster. "Corporation's larger idea is to build another 800m flyover connecting the North Usman Road flyover with the Mahalingapuram flyover, bypassing the Vivek's junction. This will be a permanent solution," he said. GCC was unable to undertake the project this financial year due to funding issues. After completion, T Nagar will have city's longest flyover at 4km from CIT Nagar to Mahalingapuram. The project was originally conceived in 2008 but at that time, govt could only construct two flyovers, one each at Mahalingapuram and Usman Road.
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