One-way traffic violations rampant on road over bridge near Tiruchi junction

Rampant wrong-lane driving on Madurai arm of RoB in Tiruchi poses safety threat, enforcement needed to prevent accidents.

The rampant practice of vehicles plying on the wrong lane of the Madurai arm and Junction arm of road over bridge (RoB) near the Railway Junction in Tiruchi has been hindering the free flow of vehicular movement and posing a safety threat to road users.

In order to prevent accidents, only upward movement is allowed on the Crawford arm. Vehicles from the Central Bus Stand, Dindigul Road and Mannarpuram are restricted to take a turn downward towards Crawford.

However, the vehicles, including four-wheelers, auto-rickshaws and vans, casually defy the rule, especially during peak hours. Similarly, vehicle users drive on the wrong lane on the Railway Junction side of the bridge, where only downward movement is allowed.

At present, the Dindigul Road, Central Bus Stand, and Mannarpuram arms of the RoB allow two-way traffic.

“The two-way traffic on the Madurai and Railway Junction arms is causing chaos. Two-wheelers often fall victim to one-way violations as the trailing vehicles fatally knock them down,” said a road user.

Although plastic bollards and steel barricades have been kept as road medians on the different arms of the bridge, violators tend to ride through the wrong way. Surveillance cameras have been installed on the RoB to check one-way violations.

A traffic police booth has been installed at the intersection point of Chennai and Madurai arms on the elevated structure, but the absence of police personnel to regulate traffic has led to the violations going rampant.