Anna Nagar: One-way or two-way?

By Nirupa Sampath  |  Express News Service  |   Published: 05th July 2017 08:20 AM  |  

 

Traffic congestion at Roundtana

Roads in and around Anna Nagar have gone back to the two-way traffic system, but many residents are unhappy.They say that the two-way roads increase traffic congestion and are a nightmare for pedestrians.

CHENNAI: With the Metrorail construction in Anna Nagar winding up after several years, the roads have finally gone back to a two-way traffic system. But, many residents feel the one-way system, which was in place temporarily, was much better. Ever since the police made the roads in and around the Anna Nagar roundabout two-way, commuters say traffic snarls and chaos have become a daily affair.

“The wider streets (when it was one-way) made driving easy. Even during peak hours of the day, the roads were pretty free. But after it was made two-way again, everyone is ganging up to one side of the road, causing unrest, sometimes also leading to arguments and fights. And pedestrians are finding it quite difficult to cross the roads,” says D Sagana, a resident of Anna Nagar.

Many commuters also say they are unclear about the traffic pattern as there are no proper stop signs or traffic signals to guide them. Even a few months after the streets on second and fourth avenues were made two-way, the commuters say there is an absence of traffic regulations. This makes people jump signals and drive fast.

“After the two-way system was introduced, the traffic flow has become worse and it takes too much time to cross this section. As the Metrorail has come up now, people from Thirumangalam also take the second avenue (the arterial road) to reach the Metro station. This too is causing traffic jams. So if it’s one-way again, it will save a lot of time for people like me who cross this section every day for work,” says R Nanditha.

“The two- way arrangement is not sudden. We had given a proper intimation to the public through the media. However, if the public demands, we can change the rules. The government has made proper arrangements in place to put up stop signs and draw stop sign on roads; it will be done within a week. Installing traffic signals will also be done within a month’s time,” says S Anandaraju, a sub-inspector manning the traffic in the area.

While the commuters generally dislike the two-way system, many shopkeepers, auto drivers and vendors are happy with it since it makes customers reach the shop easy. Apparently, many jewellery shops in the locality have started seeing business only after the new regulation.

“Two-way roads are much better than one-way. Earlier, it was extremely difficult for us to get passengers and we lost a lot of fuel going around, but now it is easy. If proper rules are in places, people will surely follow it,” says A Pandi, an auto driver.