Ambedkar Statue junction where vehicular traffic from Gokhale Road confluences with vehicles coming from K. Pudur and New Natham Road on Alagarkoil Road is a dangerous spot where road users have to be extra vigilant.
As both Gokahle Road and Alagarkoil Road have one-way traffic on this stretch, riders and drivers tend to speed up their vehicles on this stretch. With no scissors crossing mark on the road at this junction, it is for sure that any newcomer to the city will be shocked at the sudden merger of vehicle flow.
The junction has been a bigger bottleneck, since most of the vehicles coming from Gokhale Road are bound to take a left turn at Periyar statue junction to reach Melur Road, while a majority of those coming from Alagarkoil Road take a right turn towards Tallakulam.
Another factor that makes the junction more chaotic is the city and moffusil buses. Buses coming from Gokhale Road have to halt at the bus stop on Alagarkoil Road. With the bus stop located just 20 metres ahead of the junction, buses often struggle to reach the extreme left of the wide road in the short distance.
And with constant flow of vehicles from Alagarkoil Road that try to go to the other side, buses, on most occasions, stop almost on the middle of the road.
This practice blocks the road and thereby chokes the free flow of traffic. On the other hand, it puts the life and limbs of passengers who try to board or alight from the bus at risk as two-wheelers and auto-rickshaws coming from Alagarkoil Road try to pass through the passengers who otherwise walk for at least five feet from the bus stop to reach the buses.
An alternative
An alternative to this problem is allowing buses from Gokhale Road to go around the Corporation Bharathiar Park to reach Alagarkoil Road. This will give adequate distance and time for bus drivers to take to the extreme left and stop the vehicles at the right spot at the bus stop.
Another death trap is Periyar statue junction where two-wheelers and four-wheelers at the nearby workshops occupy the entire pedestrian walk and also encroach upon the whole of the two-wheeler lane on most part of the day.
Recently, an accident at this junction claimed the life of an 11-year-old girl and critically injured a youth. The youth had to slow down the vehicle at this point whereas a hurried driver of a TNSTC bus knocked him down.
Keeping Dr. Ambedkar Road free from encroachments and introducing little changes in movement of buses along with putting up scissors’ crossing will go a long way in making the junction better, road users feel.
Similarly, vehicles that dangerously intrude from Tallakulam police station side towards Dr. Ambedkar statue road should be prevented. Instead, those vehicles should be allowed to go around the Corporation park.
