COIMBATORE: A lamp post and two barricades that were installed on the Trichy Road flyover fell near the Sungam junction roundabout on Sunday after a truck rammed into them.
The 3.2-km long and 17.2-m wide flyover was constructed at Rs 232 crore and thrown open for traffic on June 11, 2022. Since then, several accidents have happened on the flyover. A few motorists had fallen from the flyover and died while taking a turn.
In view of this, the state highways department and police took several measures to avert accidents including installing speed breakers, and placing barricades on parapet walls, warning lights, etc. These resulted in improving safety and accidents started reducing.
On Sunday, a truck rammed one of the lamp posts and a couple of safety barricades and they fell near the Sungam junction roundabout. Luckily, no motorists or pedestrians were passing by at that time. Auto drivers in the vicinity moved the lamp posts and barricades inside the roundabout and cleared the road.
Speaking to TNIE, G Manuneethi, Divisional Engineer of the State Highways Department (Road Safety) in Coimbatore Division said, “We were unaware of the incident as no one was informed about it. The weather wasn’t windy today (Sunday). Therefore, we were not sure how they fell. After inquiring, we came to know that a truck had crashed into the lamp post and safety barricades and knocked it down. We shall inspect the spot on Monday and check the CCTV cameras to probe further into the cause of the incident.”