Lorry owners, public demand flyover at Kondalampatti roundabout in Salem

Lorry owners and public demand flyover at Kondalampatti roundabout in Salem City to reduce traffic congestion and accidents. Connects Salem-Bengaluru, Salem-Coimbatore, and Salem-Madurai National Highways, and serves as entry point to Salem City. Traffic congestion due to lorries bypassing city. Auto driver says buses picking up passengers on both sides of roundabout disturbs movement. SLOFT president says flyover would benefit lorry drivers. Association urges State govt to construct flyover. NHAI not pursuing due to 8-lane Salem-Chennai green corridor. Demands to be taken to State govt and NHAI.

Lorry owners and the public have demanded a flyover at the Kondalampatti roundabout in Salem City to prevent accidents and traffic congestion.

The Kondalampatti roundabout is used by vehicles bound from Salem to Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Madurai. Since a large number of lorries use the roundabout to bypass the city, traffic congestion in the area is common during peak hours.

S. Arul, an autorickshaw driver, said that buses heading towards Erode, Coimbatore, Namakkal, and Madurai pick up passengers on both sides of the roundabout. This disturbs movement of other vehicles especially during the night hours. With lorries also passing through the roundabout throughout the day, a flyover needs to be built to reduce traffic snarls and prevent accidents.

State Lorry Owners Federation of Tamil Nadu (SLOFT) president C. Dhanaraj said that a flyover at Kondalampatti roundabout would benefit lorry drivers a lot. “People are unable to cross the road now due to the traffic, despite traffic police being deployed,” he said. Drawing attention to the high rate of accidents during the day and night hours at the roundabout, the Association urged the State government to find a solution to the issue.

Officials of the State Highways Department said that the Kondalampatti roundabout was one of the accident black spots in Salem. Though there was a proposal for a flyover, the National Highway Authority of India did not pursue it because of the proposed eight-lane Salem-Chennai green corridor. The demand for the flyover at the roundabout would be brought to the notice of the State government and NHAI soon, he said.