Smoothen sharp corners at congested junctions before launching adaptive traffic control system, residents tell Corporation

Residents demand smoother corners at Chennai junctions for adaptive traffic control system launch, enhancing safety and efficiency.

Residents have demanded that the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and the Highways Department explore the feasibility of smoothening sharp corners at congested road junctions and adjust road alignment ahead of the launch of the adaptive traffic control system, which has been planned next month.

The GCC will complete the installation of poles for the adaptive traffic control system at 19 junctions on EVR Periyar Salai in a few days, said an official.

As the time taken to reach a destination along the corridor from the junction of Muthusamy Road near Fort St. George to 8th Main Road, Naduvankarai, near the Koyambedu junction is expected to reduce significantly after the new system is launched, residents have demanded initiatives to smoothen sharp corners and implement bellmouth design for improved safety and security at the junctions.

Including the 19 junctions on EVR Periyar Salai, as many as 165 junctions across the city are expected to get adaptive traffic control systems and residents have stressed the need for smoothening sharp corners and providing signage for promotion of road safety at these spots. Most of the junctions identified have sharp corners, and civic agencies have not yet smoothened the sharp corners, placed signage, or developed pedestrian infrastructure to improve safety.

Sandhya Vedullapalli, a resident of Anna Nagar, said the civic agencies should smoothen the sharp corners at the junctions. “There are so many bad junctions in Chennai, one of the worst junctions in my commute has been the one leading from PH Road to Razak Garden Road,” she added.

Geetha Ganesh, secretary of the AGS Colony Residents’ Welfare Association, Velachery West, said the GCC should demolish such compounds with sharp corners for better flow of traffic. “Most of such areas are encroached upon by hawkers, and people do not have enough space to walk or ride through. Most of the accidents happen only at the junctions because there is no visibility of upcoming traffic due to hawkers. The Nandanam and the CIT Nagar junctions on Anna Salai need correction. It is difficult for the vehicles to turn left from Anna Salai towards CIT Nagar Road to go to T. Nagar. The situation is similar in the case of the Nandanam junction too.”

K.P. Subramaniam, former professor of urban engineering at Anna University, said: “Bellmouth road junctions are designed to connect urban local streets to major collector roads with a tapered expansion at the end. They are named for their tapering end, which resembles a bell. However, in Chennai, be it the older parts of the city such as T. Nagar, Mylapore, and Triplicane, or the newly developed suburban areas such as Nanganallur, Madipakkam, and Mandaveli, the junctions are not bellmouth designs. The minor and major roads are connected without any design treatment. Consequently, they are prone to accidents due to inadequate turning radius.”