Median to come up along EB Road in Tiruchi

Tiruchi Corporation plans to extend road median on EB Road to prevent encroachments & ensure free flow of traffic.

Tiruchi Corporation has planned to extend the road median on the East Boulevard (EB) Road to prevent encroachments and ensure free flow of traffic.

A sum of ₹20 lakh has been sanctioned by the civic body to build a median between the wholesale banana market and the Corporation Higher Secondary School, which is the most congested part of the road. Of the total 1.7 km length, the stretch between Krishnapuram Road Junction and Butterworth Road of EB Road has a median.

Although the width of the road is about 80 feet, rampant encroachment by the parcel and cargo agencies to park their trucks has shrunk its carriageway, and navigating the stretch has turned into a nightmare for road users, including TNSTC buses.

Exploiting the wide road, the banana auction is often conducted on the road and waste generated by the market is dumped there, leaving a narrow space for vehicular movement. “Accumulation of waste and stationary heavy vehicles encroaching on the road leads to frequent traffic snarls in the locality around the market. We have to spend at least 20 minutes to get through the stretch during peak hours,” said T. Karthikeyan, a vehicle users.

The initiative is aimed at decongesting the EB Road and preventing roadside parking of the trucks. “Once the median is constructed, we would urge the traffic police to regulate parking and divert trucks parked on the road to the truck terminal nearby,” said a senior Corporation official.

The truck terminal was redeveloped to accommodate around 90 trucks at a time to decongest the stretch. However, officials said that only about 30 to 40 trucks are being parked most of the time, and others continue to park the vehicles on the road, hindering the free flow of traffic.

The civic body would soon launch the construction work and expects to complete the median within two months.