CHENNAI: In a bid to ensure a smooth flow of traffic, the Chennai airport conducted a trial run on Tuesday to open the central arm of a vehicular bridge remaining unused for several years.Chennai Airport Director G Chandramouli said the initial trial conducted between 2 pm and 5 pm was useful in analysing the issues faced by commuters. “We found that traffic in the domestic terminal was moving fast but passengers trying to access the international terminal had difficulties due to lack of signage,” he said.
“We will be putting up a signage as well as smaller ones for parking at the airport premises,” he said.
Interestingly, the new traffic plan trial proposed for Tuesday has been called off.
“Once the required improvements are done, the revised traffic plan is expected to commence on permanent basis within next 15-20 days,” said Chandramouli.The change of traffic plan requires the opening of a central ramp of a vehicular bridge on the airport premises which runs adjacent to the Chennai Metro Rail station which is also inside the airport, he said.
At present, vehicles heading to the departure halls of the domestic and international terminals take a right turn from the entry point, climb on to the bridge and get off at the other end of the bridge. This causes hardship to passengers because vehicles that drop commuters at the domestic terminal will have to travel past the international terminal and then finally descend to the ramp to exit the airport.