VELLORE: In an attempt to decongest traffic at the Green Circle junction, the district police on Monday enforced a few key changes in vehicular movement in Vellore city, which is likely to be permanent.
Till now, vehicles have entered the junction -- the city's major entry and exit point -- via the service road near Chennai Silks textile showroom that connects the Chennai - Bengaluru National Highway. The police have barricaded the service road and now, cars and bikes must pass through the RTO junction instead. However, heavy vehicles and buses will have to take the service road, after the barricaded point, and make their way via Konavattam underpass, and can head to new bus terminus and Katpadi.
As part of the changes, all four bus stops around the junction were removed and buses were also diverted. They had also added to traffic congestion as the public waited to board a bus and auto rickshaws would halt there to pick them up.
"While monitoring the traffic at the Green Circle junction on Monday morning, I noticed that about 170 heavy vehicles and buses were passing through the junction in half an hour. Going by the numbers, there was a huge traffic movement during peak hours," SP Rajesh Kannan said. But now the diversion of heavy vehicles and buses will reduce the piling up of traffic at the junction, he said.
Some motorists reportedly argued with the traffic police after they were not allowed to pass through the barricaded point. They said they were not informed about the changes being made. The SP went to the spot and held talks with the agitators, urging them to cooperate with the changes. The agitators then left and later at around 4.30 pm, the traffic piled up at the RTO junction as all vehicles took the new entry point. The traffic police cleared the traffic after a while.