Traffic diversion at TVS Tollgate junction compounds the chaos

The city traffic police appear to be working at cross purpose with the National Highways Authority of India if one were to go by the recent traffic diversion put in place at the TVS Tollgate junction in the city.

Consequent to the four-laning of the Tiruchi-Chennai bypass road and the construction of the flyover, major development works were also taken up at the TVS Tollgate junction by the NHAI.

But the traffic police do not seem to favour the design of the road junction and have been toying with various options to regulate the traffic flow ever since the four-lane project was completed.

The latest diversion enforced some days back, has only added to the chaos at the multiple junction rather than easing the traffic flow.

Over the past few days, ever since the police closed the straight approach road towards the Pudukottai Highway from the Sethuraman Pillai Colony side, traffic jams have become all too frequent at the junction, especially on the service lane that leads to Golden Rock.

The police justify the move saying that despite the slowing down of traffic, the move would help in reducing accidents at the junction.

But motorists, especially those using the service lane to Golden Rock, are not enthused.

“The move has only created heavy congestion at the service lane that leads to the Golden Rock. Though traffic cops are posted at the junction, they hardly regulate the traffic flow,” regrets H.Ghouse Baig, an employee of the Golden Rock Railway Workshop.

The problem turns acute during peak hours as vehicles coming from Sethuraman Pillai Colony side, the Mannarpuram Road, and the Thanjavur side converge at the narrow service lane, especially at the place where it joins the TVS Tollgate junction, motorists point out.

Bus halts on the service lanes both towards Mannarpuram and just before the TVS Tollgate Junction also pose problems, leading to vehicles lining up behind the buses parked at the halts. This apart, the diversion has made vehicles proceeding towards Thanjavur from Mannarpuram to speed at the spot, putting two-wheeler riders at great risk.

“We are not sure if creating the roundabout has served the desired purpose. However, a joint inspection by the police, NHAI, and members of the District Traffic Advisory Committee was proposed at the committee's recent meeting. We hope that the inspection would take place soon ,” said M.Sekaran, president, Federation of Consumer and Service Organisations, and member of the District Traffic Advisory Committee.

Automatic traffic signals installed at the junction have to be made fully functional, many motorists feel.