Merger of carriageway and service lane can address traffic logjam

Removing the barriers and merging the two, as in other parts of OMR where the Purple Line is taking shape, would resolve this traffic problem on this section near Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology

With work relating to Metro Rail Purple Line biting generously into the main carriageway on Old Mahabalipuram Road, help is often sought from the sidelines — that is, the service lanes. In many places, the service lane has been merged with the main carriageway to add heft to the latter. In some places where they have not been merged, it is crystal clear they should be.

In Semmanchery near Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, a merger of the service lane and carriageway (for traffic towards Siruseri) seems the logical course towards addressing logjams. A bottleneck on the service lane near the Sathyabama bus stop causes vehicles to pile up there. The closing of an “escape route” opposite Sathyabama Institute is also contributing to the traffic knots there. An opening providing access to the service lane has been shut tight with concrete blocks. The intention by the Semmancherry traffic police of the Tambaram Police Commissionerate can be easily understood: it to about preventing motorists on the main carriageway from entering the service lane. However, this well-intentioned move cuts both ways: it also prevents the traffic that has piled up on this service lane (on account of the afore-mentioned bottleneck) to move on to the main carriageway, thereby freeing up the service lane. Many a time, when this service lane is bursting at the seams, the main carriageway would be as occupied by vehicular traffic as the McMurdo–South Pole Highway.

Removing the barriers and merging the two, as in other parts of OMR where the Purple Line is taking shape, would resolve this traffic problem. The service lane on this section in question is noticeably higher than the road, but elsewhere in OMR, despite similar situations, a merger has been effected, and the results justify the move.