Chennai: “Every day while commuting through here, all I think is, how nice will it be if I were able to skip this junction,” says Sakthi Nagar resident Ravikumar, cramming his painstaking travel story in just one line. Such is the traffic condition in the neighbourhood. When News Today had an interaction with a number of motorists, many termed this junction as their villain.
Draped in a stole, Sheela, a 28-year-old working woman, says, “Every day I travel for 3 hours up and down, of which most of my time is spent here at this junction. No matter how early one starts, you are sure to get stuck here. The road is packed with vehicles for about 5 km, and they move like a snail during peak hours.”
This is not it! Even for people coming from Mugappair, Ambattur, Maduravoyal and other far of places, this junction gives them the shivers. “I come all the way from Maduravoyal as I work at Kandanchavadi. The DLF junction is where the highest jam happens. Sometimes, the signals work and sometimes they don’t. Every time, I cross this stretch, I give out a sigh of relief. The situation is even worse during evening hours. The vehicles remain jammed for more than 30 minutes at the same spot,” says Riyaas.
Wait, he has more to share. “More number of traffic police should be stationed here to direct the vehicles efficiently and make sure they follow proper road rules. Traffic is mostly caused when people don’t follow proper rules. This should be avoided. Also, the signals should be checked regularly. The signal timings at some places are so fast that one gets caught in the same signal for more than three times.”
Another commuter, Shamuga Priya suggests that lorries and other heavy vehicles should not be allowed to take the stretch during peak hours as they occupy 3/4th of the road and lead to slow movement of vehicles. “Winding up ongoing road widening works on the stretch will help free up space for vehicles,” she says hopefully.