Navigating traffic gridlock at Thirumangalam junction is an arduous task
The Hindu
Navigating traffic gridlock at Thirumangalam junction is an arduous task
Traffic snarls were a rarity at Anna Nagar until a decade ago. Now, motorists hit a roadblock at the Thirumangalam traffic junction and endure the daily ordeal of waiting for long hours.
Located at the heart of Anna Nagar, the Thirumangalam traffic junction is unavoidable for residents proceeding to other parts of Anna Nagar, like Second Avenue, and areas such as Koyambedu, Mogappair and Padi. At rush hours in the morning and even until 10 p.m., the junction gets choked with vehicles on Jawaharlal Nehru Road and Ambattur Industrial Estate Road.
The re-routing of traffic to facilitate the ongoing Metro Rail work on a stretch of Jawaharlal Nehru Road at Anna Nagar has added to the traffic congestion.
Traffic blocks at the Thirumangalam junction spill over to the 15th Main Road and 12th Main Road junctions too. Though there are signboards put up prominently, traffic builds up at peak hours as vehicles jostle for space to pass through 15th Main Road, one of the interior roads chosen for re-routing the traffic from the Thirumangalam junction to Anna Nagar and Koyambedu.
J.M.S. Nagarjunan, vice-president, Anna Nagar Western Extension Residents Welfare Association, says vehicles gather on Ambattur Industrial Estate Road so far as the next junction near Park Road, leading to a cascading effect on the other signals.
“It takes a minimum of seven minutes to cross a distance of 100 metres. Car parking should not be allowed near the junction. It is a vital junction for Mogappair and Anna Nagar residents to reach Metro stations and also proceed towards the airport, the Central and Egmore railway stations and the Koyambedu bus terminus,” he says.
The absence of a pedestrian crossing or a foot overbridge at the junction puts pedestrians in jeopardy. They vie for space with vehicles that often jump signals to pass the stretch, he says.
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