Weekend and festival jams persist on two stretches of GST Road

Weekend and festival traffic jams plague the Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road, the gateway to southern Tamil Nadu. Thousands of motorists and passengers get stuck for hours on the Tambaram-Perungalathur stretch due to buses, omni-buses, and other vehicles. Poor traffic management, inadequate parking, and lack of signboards add to the woes of commuters. The police have deployed 300 personnel to regulate traffic during festivals, and the construction of a bridge is expected to reduce congestion. The influx of migrants to Chennai, due to investments, is a major factor in the traffic problem. Solutions include developing tier-two and tier-three cities and a second capital in central Tamil Nadu.

Despite the widening of the Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road and the improvement in traffic management, the gateway to the southern Tamil Nadu continues to suffer from traffic congestion at weekends and festival seasons. Thousands of motorists and passengers get stuck in traffic jams for hours while passing the stretch from Pallavaram to Tambaram and from Perungalathur to Singaperumal Koil.

GST Road is the major road for those from southern and central districts to go home during the festival seasons and weekends. Buses run by the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, omni-buses and other vehicles pile on the Tambaram-Perungalathur stretch, causing congestion.

Anand Venkat, a businessman and regular commuter from Chromepet to Tiruchi, says, “We are facing a regular ordeal while going from Chromepet to Tambaram and then from Perungalathur to Singaperumal Koil at weekends. Vehicles are moving at a snail’s pace since government buses and omni-buses stop in the middle of the road to take in passengers. Those who use private vehicles will have to wait long hours in the traffic. Sometimes, we feel like giving up our journey and returning to our places.”

On Fridays, the crowd thronging Pallavaram Sandhai (market) is one of the reasons for the traffic jam on GST Road at Pallavaram. Many commercial complexes and eateries have cropped up between Pallavaram and Tambaram, adding to the woes of commuters.

“Commercial complexes or eateries do not have adequate space for parking. Customers who come to these outlets park their vehicles blocking the carriageway. The signboards are also put up on the pedestrian path. The two flyovers on the stretch do not alleviate the sufferings of road-users caught in traffic,” says V. Ramdoss, a social activist.

Tambaram is a major railway junction which connects the southern and central districts of the State. The parking space at the station is inadequate, and it lacks signboards. People who come by autorickshaws or call-taxis often get down on the GST Road, which is full of government buses and omni-buses, and street vendors.

S.R. Godwin Shadrach, an advocate, says, “Between 6,30 p.m. and 10 p.m. on weekends, vehicles back up for kilometres as several of them block the arterial roads. For instance, omni-buses should not take this route, but they halt in the middle of the road near the Tambaram railway station blocking the carriageway.”