Reckless driving, Metro Rail work add to chaos at Virugambakkam

Reckless driving, Metro Rail work add to chaos at Virugambakkam

Until a year ago, the Virugambakkam signal near the Vembuli Amman temple on Arcot Road was not a spot that one would find it difficult to drive through. However, Metro Rail construction has increased congestion on Arcot Road, especially on the stretch between Alwarthirunagar and Saligramam where pillars have not yet been fully constructed.

T. Murugan, who crosses the Virugambakkam junction every day on the way to work, says reckless driving by motorists is also a reason for the congestion. The signal branches to a road leading to Kaliamman Koil Street and the Koyambedu market on one side, and to Nesapakkam and K.K. Nagar on the other. Two schools, one college, a hospital, and a cinema theatre are close by.

A traffic police constable at the signal says that apart from peak-hour traffic, there is congestion around noon when children leave schools. “In the morning hours, many heavy vehicles and vegetable trucks pass by,” the constable says. At a place when one hardly used to see any traffic policemen, three have been posted all through the day in shifts. Further, two ‘traffic marshals’ are employed by the Metro Rail contractor to help manage the vehicular movement. The signal is manually operated by the traffic police as it is not pre-programmed for larger intervals. “In 20-30 seconds, no vehicle will move,” the constable says. A major issue at the intersection is that motorists coming in from interior streets occupy the width of the two-lane road off Arcot Road, blocking vehicles from the opposite side, says the constable.

A couple of hundred metres ahead of the signal, towards Vadapalani, there is a diversion that needs traffic police supervision.

According to a resident of the area, the worst-affected are the MTC buses as they take a lot of time to move through the stretch of Arcot Road that has been narrowed by the Metro Rail barricades.

Selvi, who runs Ranga Grocery Store near the signal, says motorists seldom drive considerately.

“Nobody follows rules. Everyone wants to be the first to cross,” she says, adding that rain further slows the flow of traffic as the interior roads get waterlogged.