Madhumitha Viswanath By Express News Service CHENNAI: After it was announced that two-way system will be restored in Anna Salai, people were a happy lot hoping that this will eat into the travel time. Unfortunately, that has not been the case so far. Traffic snarls even during non-office hours has made commute a nightmare. Traffic jam starts from Gemini Flyover because of which vehicles move at snail’s pace till Greams Road intersection. During office hours, motorists say, it takes a good 15 minutes just to reach US Consulate from Spencer’s Plaza. “Earlier, I used to wait for four to five minutes at Nandanam, Kotturpuram and Pondy Bazaar signals. But, now I wait for 10-15 minutes. The exponential growth in vehicles since 2012 must have been taken into account before bringing back the two-way system,” said Deepa Seshadri of Saidapet, whose travel time from Egmore to Saidapet has increased by at least 20 minutes. Moreover, traffic spills on to inner roads in neighbouring residential areas of Gopalapuram, Royapettah, Thousand Lights and Teynampet. From 6.30 pm till 8.30 pm, there is a pile-up on Conran Smith Road and Thiru-Vi-Ka Road near Sathyam Cinemas till Avai Shanmugam Salai at Royapettah. Most times, there is no police to regulate vehicles. Similarly, General Patters Road is a mess. Traffic jam spills on to Arunachala Street, Gandhi Irwin Road at Egmore till Eldams Road at Teynampet. Residential roads too bear the brunt. Bad roads, no bus shelters Adding to it is the poor conditions of roads. General Patters Road, Whites Road, Pattullos Road, Cathedral Road and Thiru Vi Ka Salai are a few instances. The one-kilometre stretch on Anna Salai which has been made two-way again has not been levelled properly which results in a bumpy ride. Absence of shelters at Anand Theatre and TVS stops causes great hardship to commuters. Experts point out that a part of phase one Metro runs beneath a congested stretch like Anna Salai to encourage people to use public transport. “If Anna Salai is made one-way again, people will want to commute by their own vehicles as it is one of the widest roads in the city. Metro Rail must encourage more people to chose its transport by introducing concessions, reducing fares and increasing last-mile connectivity, said Ashwathy Dilip, senior program manager at Institute for Transportation and Development Policy.

Stay updated with all the Chennai Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.