Multiple road works have thrown traffic out of gear in the city of late. With soil tests for flyover projects being conducted in places like Ramanathapuram Junction and repair and underground drainage works carried out in few other places, traffic congestions have spiked on city’s arterial roads.The weekend that just passed by turned out to be a nightmare for motorists during peak hours.It took 20 minutes for motorists to cross Avinashi Road flyover on Saturday evening, with vehicles piled up till Brookefields Mall on the Brookebond road waiting to scale the flyover. The Mill Road was no less painful to cross.On the other side of the city, as workers were collecting samples for soil test for the proposed flyover at Ramanathapuram road intersection, vehicles were forced to ply on single lane.A bus stop near the traffic signal compounded the problem with buses stationed there to pick and drop passengers resulted in piling up of vehicles behind.“Traffic was so heavy, and vehicles were moving at snail’s pace from the flyover till Chinthamani. Since Sastri Road is blocked due to drainage work in the underpass, vehicles are diverted towards the flyover increasing the congestion,” Shanmugam T, a resident of Ram Nagar, said.Natarajan P, another resident in the locality, said many people came till the underpass and turned back, as there was no notice board to indicate diversion.“Traffic is completely chocked on Mettupalayam Road and Brookbond Road. Sivananda Colony Link Road from Mettupalayam is also blocked for some welding works by the railway department. Blocking important roads without prior notice have let us in shock. Barricades are simply kept without any notice banners,” he said.Commuters and drivers are forced to take longer routes to reach their destinations. Blocking two important routes at the same time have created traffic commotion in all the arterial roads and flyovers.“Kikani School road is closed, and there is no movement till Cross-Cut Road. It usually takes not more than 5 minutes to cross this area, but today it took around 25 minutes to reach the destination,” Ranganathan G, a Red Taxi driver, said.An auto driver Unnikrishnan U said traffic turned better on Sunday. On Monday, traffic congestion had eased to some extent on Avinashi Road flyover and Brookebond Road.Residents in the Sivananda Colony Link Road are fed up with the periodical blocking of the route. However, police officials said traffic congestion would end soon.Deputy commissioner of police Sujit Kumar said, “Construction work near Kikani School is permitted for only six days, and the road will be opened in a day. It is only for the betterment of the road facilities, as the underpass will not clog anymore in case of rain. Sivananda Colony route may take some more time.”“The corporation work is going on in Sastri Road, and hence we have blocked the route and diverted the vehicles. The railways department is doing construction work in Sivananda Colony route. We are trying our best to ease traffic congestion, as the construction works are unavoidable. The traffic would get back to normal by Tuesday,” an official in the traffic department said.

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