TIRUCHY: The city’s Convent Road, which leads one to at least three schools and hospitals, and through which all buses heading to Chathiram Bus Stand from Central Bus Stand are routed, is a scene of chaos almost every other day due to the mindless violation of traffic rules – particularly wrong side entry -- adding to the heavy vehicular flow.
All this occurs right under the nose of traffic police personnel, say commuters. Despite the stretch open only to one-way traffic flow, commuters say several vehicles have been entering it from the wrong side for over a decade now. The violators include those dropping off children to school, shoppers, and those trying to use it as a shortcut to access Melapudur Main Road rather than taking the seemingly inconvenient Bharathidasan Salai and waiting at the post office traffic signal, they pointed out.
Further, vehicles entering Melapudur Main Road via Convent Road and those already on the main road making a U-turn to Melapudur are causing traffic congestion during rush hour. Vehicles wanting to enter Convent Road inevitably get enmeshed in the congestion, they added. Road users also pointed to the inconvenience of vehicles parking on either side of Convent Road.
A 15-year-old female student of a private school in Melapudur said, "It is a challenge for us to enter school and cross the road after class hours as we cannot predict from which direction vehicles would approach. I often see vehicles colliding head-on." Sometimes it takes at least five to 10 minutes to cross the road if the police are not around, she added.
Maheshwari Vaiyapuri, a resident of nearby Palakkarai and secretary of a consumer rights movement, said, "For the past five years, we have been asking the city traffic police to prevent vehicles from plying the one-way road in the wrong direction. Also, Convent Road and the main roads have encroachments. No one appears to notice these issues.
Two-wheelers, autorickshaws, cars and vans plying in the wrong direction act as if the road is theirs. This results in heavy traffic jams all through the day and also accidents." She also sought for the speed breaker on Melapudur Main Road to be shifted back slightly so as to allow vehicles to make a U-turn to Melapudur easily without causing a traffic jam.
When contacted, a senior city traffic police official told TNIE, "Due to ongoing UGD (underground drainage) works across the city, we are unable to prevent vehicles from approaching the road open to one-way traffic in the wrong direction. We will, however, look into the issue. We are also taking steps to prevent vehicles from parking by the roadside."