Kumari Palany & Co

No. of views : (4442)

Upset and fed up, residents belonging to OMR wants roads free from traffic

Posted on: 20/Jun/2019 10:32:50 AM
For those who travel frequently from Tidel Park to Sholinganallur junction, moving through the heavy traffic is toughest problem they face. There are as many as 15 signals and 5 toll plazas present and the commuters get fed up.

It must be noted that in the peak hours in the Rajiv Gandhi Salai it takes over hour and half to go from Tidel Park to Sholinganallur. A regular commuter Sekar spoke about how when he came to Chennai in 1987 he had to get off the tar road to make way for the buses and how now it takes 10 minutes to cross the road. He then spoke about how the growth in the traffic has been unimaginable. He compared this road with the popular Mount Road and said this road has got more traffic than the Mount Road. Rajiv Gandhi Salai or OMR carries around 1.5lakh vehicles every day is known.

It is a nightmarish experience for the regular commuters as the 15 traffic signals plus 5 toll plazas present make the commuters to wait for a long time. This waiting time along with the travel time has been making many regular commuters lose their patience now. It should be noted that in the 20 km stretch from Madhya Kailash to Siruseri 15 traffic signals only means vehicles have to wait for a minimum of 45 minutes to cross the signals and it gets extended in the peak hours of time.

It was then pointed out by a surgeon working in a hospital in Taramani that he and many others usually spent 2 hours on the road while going from Madhya Kailash to Siruseri. He explained about how it takes hour and 20 minutes for him to reach Taramani from Navalur by crossing 2 toll plazas.

He shed light on why he chose OMR and said the property rates were lesser than those in other parts of Chennai plus his work spot was nearer. Surgeon concluded that the daily driving through heavy traffic tires him out. The point is peak hours on this OMR stretch from 9 am to beyond noon and from 5:45 pm to 10 pm. The residents belonging to Rajiv Gandhi Salai are now totally fed up with wasting their times waiting at the toll plazas and signals and are demanding a solution.

It was explained by a former official of the highways department that there is no grid-road connectivity on the arterial road. So motorists would not be able to take alternative route. Finally he spoke about how atleast 3 roads proposed in CMDAs master plan are not available for public yet.

Information collected is the proposals for the flyovers to be built at 5 junctions has been cleared by the state government many years back but not yet constructed till now.