Service lanes on Chennai-Bengaluru Highway in Vellore to be widened

The narrow service lanes on both sides of the Chennai-Bengaluru Highway in Vellore will be widened from the current five metres to 8.5 metres to provide more roadspace for motorists and ease traffic congestion on arterial roads in the city.

This is one of the changes proposed by an expert team from IIT Madras to Collector P. Kumaravel Pandian for a smooth traffic flow after new traffic changes was introduced on the highway and its service lanes a fortnight ago. “After the changes, traffic police constables were found only for a few days at key intersections. Later, they disappeared, resulting in traffic violations,” said K. Vimala, a motorist.

Some of the key changes that are proposed to improve the traffic situation in the fort town, especially around the highway, include the reduction in the size of the Green Circle, a roundabout below the highway that was formed in 2009; removal of the triangle- shaped traffic island on the eastern side of the Green Circle that hampers traffic; installation of proper signage of the routes well in advance; an uniform bitumen road for the entire width of the road in and around the Green Circle; and adequate pedestrian crossings.

Motorists said the new traffic changes eased congestion around the Circle with the presence of traffic policemen preventing any parking on the service lanes. However, as the traffic policemen slowly disappeared from key intersections, autorickshaws again occupied their old space, especially at Namma Veedu hotel, resulting in congestion at rush hours.

Narrow lanes where the traffic has been diverted have become more congested. A case in point is the service lane near the Collectorate. Despite police presence at the intersection, motorists continue to take the wrong lane on the narrow service road, resulting in accidents, especially at evening rush hours. Motorists want the police to deploy more traffic policemen on the diverted routes to ensure that the changes are followed.