Pedestrians at the Maraimalai Nagar Municipality Office Road junction near GST Road are being forced to cross amid turning vehicles and signal violations, prompting residents to renew their demand for a dedicated pedestrian signal.
The junction connects the GST Road service lane with Maraimalai Nagar Municipality Office Road. Motorists travelling from Singaperumal Koil enter the service lane, take a U-turn on GST Road and then proceed towards Municipality Office Road. Vehicle users approaching from Kattankalathur also take a U-turn at the location, creating multiple crossing movements around the junction.
Residents say the problem is compounded by two-wheeler riders who jump signals on GST Road. The combination of U-turning vehicles, service-lane traffic and signal violations leaves pedestrians attempting to cross in the middle of moving traffic.
“Following an accident involving a woman we have been demanding that the traffic wing of the Tambaram Police Commissionerate facilitate a pedestrian signal, but a vehicle-signalled facility has been installed,” R. Bharat, a resident of Maraimalai Nagar, said.
Bharat said pedestrians cannot reasonably walk to the nearby footbridge, cross there and return towards Kattankulathur. Instead, people attempting to cross at the junction have to run between vehicles and judge gaps in traffic themselves.
A footbridge is located within half a kilometre of the junction. However, according to the report, it primarily serves bus commuters and pedestrians near Vallal Adhiyaman Salai and Vallal MGR Street. Its location and access points do not address the crossing movement at the Municipality Office Road junction, residents say.
The issue illustrates a recurring gap between providing a grade-separated crossing and providing one that serves the actual pedestrian route. A footbridge may be available nearby, but it does not automatically make a junction accessible when pedestrians need to cross between specific roads, homes, offices, bus stops or neighbourhood streets.
At this junction, the traffic arrangement has been designed with vehicle movements in mind, including U-turns and a vehicle signal. Residents are seeking an additional facility that gives pedestrians a defined crossing phase and reduces the need to negotiate moving traffic.
The demand has been placed before the traffic wing of the Tambaram Police Commissionerate following the reported accident involving a woman. The immediate issue for the authorities is whether the existing vehicle-signalled arrangement can safely accommodate people walking between the service lane, Municipality Office Road and the Kattankulathur side.
Until a pedestrian facility is provided or the crossing arrangement is changed, residents say pedestrians will continue to run and dodge vehicles at the junction. The requested intervention is a pedestrian signal specifically at the Municipality Office Road junction, rather than reliance on the footbridge located farther away.
