Chennai: When Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister C Joseph Vijay take the inaugural ride on the yellow line of Chennai Metro Rail between Porur and Poonamallee on Oct 11, out of their sight may be the road below, damaged and chaotic.Every hour, at least 10,000 vehicles squeeze through the 8km Poonamallee–Porur High Road, and motorists on one side of the road have to negotiate narrow carriageways, damaged patches and poorly managed U-turns. With the metro rail being operational, more people getting out at the stations would add to the chaos.The Porur-to-Poonamallee side of the road is better, at around 20ft wide, as many encroachments have been removed and stretches relaid after completion of the metro rail work. But vehicles heading towards Porur are forced to use a narrower carriageway, with the difference in width being around five feet at some stretches.At Kattupakkam and Karayanchavadi, portions of the road have been cleared up for widening, but the road extension work remains unfinished. This has left vehicles travelling towards Porur using the existing narrow road, adding to traffic congestion during peak hours. From Karayanchavadi to Thelliyaragaram, several stretches are patchy, with the Kattupakkam–Iyyappanthangal section having a large damaged patch in the middle of the carriageway.S Rajamani, secretary of Small Merchants Welfare Association in Poonamallee, said, “Last week, my daughter and I were on a bike towards near Thelliyaragaram. Near Kumananchavadi, there was a ditch in the middle of the road. A car suddenly took a U-turn and we fell while trying to avoid the ditch and being hit. Many others have had narrow escapes.”There are at least 10 U-turns between Porur and Poonamallee bus stop, several of which are poorly regulated. “Often there is no traffic constable, not even at Porur junction. Once metro rail services start, people coming out of the stations may add to the crowd on the road and make things worse,” said M Vinoth Kumar, a resident of Iyyappanthangal.S Naveen Kumar, an urban transport expert, said road infrastructure needed to be completed alongside the metro rail project. “Metro stations bring additional pedestrian, feeder and private-vehicle movement. If road widening, junction management and parking are not addressed before the service opens, existing bottlenecks could get worse and increase the risk of accidents,” he said.Despite repeated attempts, Highways Department officials were unavailable for comment.
