TIRUCHY: Traffic on the Chennai-Tiruchy NH came to a grinding halt on Friday due to the closure of the old Cauvery bridge for maintenance work, leading to long queue of vehicles and severe congestion across the city.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) closed the bridge on Thursday to undertake major repair works. Maintenance on the bridge, inaugurated in 1963, was last carried out in 2010. During the three-month period, traffic has been partially diverted to the new bridge constructed adjacent to the old one.
Officials said the old bridge has been operating as a one-way facility for Chennai-bound traffic, while the new bridge is being used for Tiruchy-bound vehicles. However, traffic has been made one-way from the Sanjeev Nagar signal to the Kollidam Y Road Junction.
The Chennai-Tiruchy NH serves as an arterial corridor linking Tiruchy with Thanjavur, Madurai, Pudukkottai, Karur, and Dindigul. The traffic worsened as the bridge closure coincided with a three-day holiday, resulting in heavy vehicle accumulation. Several ambulances, along with a large number of other vehicles, were stranded in for long hours.
In one incident on Friday morning, a youth sustained serious injuries after his bike collided with a car near Palpannai Bridge. Although emergency services were alerted immediately, the ambulance took nearly 20 minutes to reach the spot.
M Devi from Thiruvanaikoil told TNIE, “The traffic is unbearable. It takes at least 20 to 30 minutes to cross this stretch now. The three-month closure is going to make daily travel very difficult for us. There is heavy congestion throughout the day, and even short distances are taking much longer than usual.”
C Velankanni, a private cab driver from Villupuram said ”We could not reach on time to pick up passengers and drop them because of the traffic.”
A senior city cop said, “We have deployed police personnel at several points in Perambalur, Thuvakudimalai, Kulithalai, and Musiri to divert goods vehicles away from the city. We will continue to monitor.”