Residents urge the Corporation to identify road safety issues and implement measures. Officials said the civic authorities and the traffic police will identify locations that need better facilities.
| Photo Credit: RAVINDRAN R
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has planned to develop pedestrian-friendly crossings at junctions and at locations with rising footfall in the city to promote road safety.Residents have demanded the Corporation to identify road safety issues and promote pedestrian-friendly crossings, as meetings pertaining to the new road safety policy are set to be scheduled in the coming days.Councillors in GCC wards have demanded a survey of all tri-junctions, four junctions, and five junctions for implementing pedestrian-friendly crossings. Egmore Ward 61 councillor Fathima Muzaffer said the safety of pedestrians is compromised at the tri-junctions of Ethiraj College, Pantheon Road, Casa Major Road and Gandhi Irwin Road, particularly for senior citizens and children. “The pedestrian foot overbridge is not feasible. We need better alternatives and engineering-driven solutions. Pedestrians cannot cross the road near Maternity Hospital near the ramp of the overbridge. GCC should complete the survey of all junctions for pedestrian-friendly crossings,” she said.Pedestrians do not have adequate facilities to cross road junctions designed by GCC such as Pantheon Road - Police Commissioner Office Road - Rukmani Lakshmipathi Salai. Officials said civic authorities and the traffic police will identify locations that need such facilities.Velachery resident S. Kumararaja said: “Pedestrians cannot cross the road near Vijayanagar bus stand, to reach schools located opposite the bus stand. Senior citizens need more time for pedestrian crossing as 30 seconds is not adequate. At least one minute is needed in some locations where the distance is 200 feet. We need foot overbridge at some locations while such bridges at locations such as Baby Nagar are no longer needed. Let them shift these structures to locations that need such facilities. They should conduct a public consultation before deciding the locations,” he said.Anna University former professor of Urban Engineering K.P. Subramaniam said: “The inter-institutional coordination is an indispensable requirement. There is no single government department, which can be held accountable for road safety. It calls for an apex body like a coordination committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary.”Mr. Subramaniam said the current traffic enforcement strategy calls for a radical change. The present system of visible policing must give way to the random policing, successfully adopted by Australian cities to achieve zero accident rate. An independent and interdisciplinary committee may be made responsible for scientific accident investigation, he said.The network of footpaths coupled with zero tolerance for encroachments of road spaces and footpaths calls for the top priority. The last but not the least is the application of technology in the traffic management, enforcement and education, he added. Published - March 09, 2026 12:18 am IST
