Commuters want traffic streamlined on Cuddalore Road

It is chaotic at peak hours as the carriageway has shrunk with encroachments

Commuters demand that traffic be better streamlined along the stretch from the Marappalam junction to Murungapakkam on Cuddalore Road.

Traffic was chaotic at peak hours as the carriageway for the road has shrunk with encroachments by shop owners and the parking of vehicles selling goods on either side.

According to Thillai Iyappan, a resident of Murungapakkam, the situation had worsened in the last three to four years. The number of vehicles taking the route has gone up substantially, but the road improvement is incommensurate.

Traffic grinds to a halt at peak hours with vehicles often piling up from the Marappalam junction to Murungapakkam. The queue extends even longer on festive days.

“On auspicious days, the traffic will be very heavy. A large number of people will be taking the route to attend marriage and other functions. The Marppalam junction itself will get choked; on occasions, vehicles will line up so far as the bridge near the Murungapakkam junction,” said Sampath, a government employee and resident of Mudaliarpet.

Just immediately after the Marappalam junction, one could see vehicles parked on the road side to sell vegetables and household items. There will also be street vendors. The carriageway further shrinks near the Murungapakkam junction owing to the encroachment by shop owners and haphazard parking of vehicles, said Pa. Saravanan, a resident of Velrampet.

“Several accidents have occurred because of haphazard parking of vehicles selling goods. We moved the traffic police, and very recently the Minister for Public Works, for short-term and long-term measures to avoid traffic snarls,” he said.