COIMBATORE: After numerous trial runs, the road safety wing of the State Highways Department and the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) have begun constructing traffic islands and roundabouts near the Coimbatore district court complex. This decision was made after several concerns were raised over the changes made by the officials at the junction which caused traffic congestion.
Thousands of vehicles travel through the roundabout and traffic islands in front of the Coimbatore Red Cross Society, opposite the district integrated court complex, everyday. Those from the VOC grounds, Hosur Road, Uppilipalayam, Railway Station Road, Arts College Road, Racecourse, etc. are forced to go around the Red Cross Society roundabout. Due to this, traffic congestion was increasing at a staggering rate.
Though the civic body renovated the roundabout structure recently, the traffic congestion was not solved. Hence, officials from the road safety wing of the State Highways Department, traffic police, and the CCMC’s engineering wing jointly inspected the area several weeks ago and made a few changes. They installed a few dividers and diverted traffic as per the revised design. A team from Bengaluru was also called to inspect the traffic, change designs, and a map that was prepared. Based on their report, the roundabout is now being modified by the civic body, and construction work is underway in full swing after the trial run was successful.
G Manuneethi, divisional engineer of the State Highways Department (Road Safety), Coimbatore division, told TNIE, “Earlier, the officials had left only about 7.5 metres of space on the road between the Red Cross Society and the district court’s entrance for the vehicles to commute. I inspected the place and identified that the space was too narrow for the vehicles to proceed freely. Given this, I’ve instructed the officials to expand it by 1.5 metres in addition to the existing space by revising the traffic island’s design. The same was changed and the work is being carried out in full swing by the CCMC and is expected to be completed in a few days.”