CHENNAI: Motorists spent nearly 30 to 40 minutes covering the five-km stretch between Tambaram and Kilambakkam on GST Road on Friday, as the highway witnessed massive vehicle pile-ups. Although the stretch has been experiencing congestion during weekends, the surge in vehicle volume since Thursday, ahead of Deepavali, further slowed traffic from Pallavaram to Guduvanchery, resulting in bumper-to-bumper movement.
Although the opening of the road overbridge (ROB) at Perungalathur, which had remained a bottleneck on GST Road for over two decades, provided relief, the commissioning of the Kilambakkam bus terminus (KCBT) in 2024, has turned the GST Road stretch into a major bottleneck, particularly during festival periods.
A visit to KCBT revealed that the crippling traffic congestion was primarily triggered by the merging of vehicles from the Outer Ring Road and the Vandalur flyover. Vehicles coming down the Outer Ring Road through the service road along the GST Road have to merge with the main carriageway of GST Road right in front of KCBT.
Similarly, government and private omni buses, MTC buses and other vehicles attempting to enter the bus terminus have to negotiate with the traffic merging from the Outer Ring Road, resulting in the bottleneck.Further, vehicles heading to KCBT from Maraimalai Nagar have to take a U-turn beneath the Vandalur flyover and join the service road to enter the terminus, worsening the situation.
Transport department officials said the number of buses handled at KCBT had been reduced and some services were diverted to Maraimalai Nagar, following advice from the traffic police. “The merging of traffic from the service road and the main carriageway near the Vandalur flyover is causing severe congestion. The issue is being examined,” an official said.
NHAI officials said the multi-lane free-flow tolling system had reduced congestion at Paranur. “The ongoing construction of vehicular underpasses at Padalam, Pukkathurai and Madurantakam will be completed soon and is expected to ease congestion along the Chengalpattu-Tindivanam NH section,” an official said.