As the area around Vijayanagar bus terminus continues to remain congested despite the inauguration of a double-layered flyover, the residents want the terminus to be shifted to a site near the Velachery MRTS railway station.
Parking of several buses at the terminus near the narrow junction creates traffic bottleneck during morning and evening peak hours, say local activists. Shifting the terminus to a site adjacent to the MRTS railway station will not only end this problem but also make it a multimodal transport hub similar to the one at the Tambaram railway station.
The junction of Velachery Main Road-Bypass is traditionally prone to heavy congestion. To decongest the junction, the State Highways Department built a double-layered flyover with one linking Velachery Main Road with Bypass and the other linking Taramani Main Road with Bypass. However, the local residents point out that the junction below the flyover continues to see traffic congestion during morning and evening peak hours.
Social activist S. Kumararaja blamed the parking of buses for this. The residents have been demanding shifting of the bus terminus to a spot adjacent to the MRTS railway station where huge parcel of land belonging to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) was available. “This would ease the traffic congestion and thousands of commuters using the MRTS would benefit in accessing public transport,” he says.
At present, the commuters travelling by MRTS trains and wanting to proceed to Guindy, Saidapet and T. Nagar have only a few buses as most of the buses bound for Guindy, Ashok Nagar and Ambattur are operated from the Vijayanagar bus terminus, which is 1.50 km away.
A senior official of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) said they would shift the Vijayanagar bus terminus if the State government allocates land near the Velachery railway station.
