After showers, heavy flow of traffic clogs roads in and around Chennai

Several parts of Chennai witnessed traffic congestion on Monday due to the rains and a spike in the number of vehicles on major roads.
Passenger coming out of the suburban trains in Chennai on Monday. (Photo | R Satish Babu, EPS)
Passenger coming out of the suburban trains in Chennai on Monday. (Photo | R Satish Babu, EPS)

CHENNAI: Several parts of Chennai witnessed traffic congestion on Monday due to the rains and a spike in the number of vehicles on major roads. Since morning, the Perungalathur-Tambaram GST Road and the Sriperumbudur-Poonamallee stretch of the Bengaluru Bypass witnessed queues of vehicles extending over 2 km. Besides the rains, the construction of the flyover at Perungalathur added to commuters’ woes.

The GST Road carriageway on the Guduvancheri-Perungalathur stretch has been reduced from three lanes to one. “It took nearly an hour to reach Pallavaram from Guduvanchery,” said a commuter. The high volume of vehicles on GST Road and the Bengaluru Bypass resulted in heavy traffic congestion on Chennai’s arterial roads.

The Chennai-Tirupati Highway, Inner Ring Road, LB Road, ECR, EVR Periyar Road, Poonamallee Highway, Choolaimedu Highway, Velachery Main Road, Kodambakkam Main Road, OMR, and GST Road from Guindy to Tambaram witnessed heavy traffic throughout the day.

“The diversion of traffic due to Metro Rail work worsened the situation in Kodambakkam, Vadapalani and Ashok Nagar. It took nearly 55 minutes to reach Valluvar Kottam from Vadapalani,” said K Rajesh, a commuter.

Transport officials said the spike in vehicular movement was because people who visited their hometowns were returning to Chennai. Similarly, water-logging and battered roads disrupted vehicular movement between Poonamallee and CMBT, and motorists complained about potholes on the roads.

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