A female pedestrian dangerously crossing Alagarkoil Road in front of Subash Chandra Bose flyover in Madurai on Friday.
| Photo Credit: G. MOORTHY
Casual jaywalking by pedestrians right at the foot of ramp of Subash Chandra Bose flyover at Tamukkam is posing danger to both the pedestrians and speeding motorists.Though an underpass has been constructed to ensure safe passage of the pedestrians just 50 metres away, the pedestrians choose to take shortcut route of crossing Alagarkoil Road even as vehicles approach them at higher speed.Passengers who come from the Nehru Statue junction, post-Office and BSNL office side, walk towards the highmast light erected on Alagarkoil-Gokhale Road junction to cross Alagarkoil Road to reach the bus stop in front of the Corporation Convention Centre at Tamukkam ground.Since, this stretch of the highway follows one-way traffic, the vehicles usually move at a faster pace.As the buses, coming from Tallakulam side suddenly take a left turn towards the service road, it opens wide empty space for the vehicles that closely follow the buses. The cars and motorbikes that proceed to climb up the flyover tend to speed up at this point.Having blinded by the huge buses, the car drivers and bike riders are shocked on seeing pedestrians or group of the pedestrians, attempting to hurriedly cross the road one after the other.As the pedestrians have got a long way -- three-laned flyover and a wider service road -- to get on the other side of the road, the chance of an accident increases.Besides, two-wheelers and autorickshaws that violate the one-way traffic on the service roads on both sides add to the chaos.Despite an opening provided under the flyover to facilitate vehicles coming from Gandhi Museum Road to cross Alagarkoil Road safely, many bikers and autodrivers take the wrong route and come upto Gokhale Road junction to cross Alagarkoil Road.Similarly, vehicles coming from Tallakulam and Gokhale Road also proceed towards post-office and BSNL office on the wrong side creating panic among those who scrupulously follow traffic rules.Provision of zebra crossing on both the service roads will encourage people to make use of well-lit pedestrian underpass. Published - June 05, 2026 08:52 pm IST
