Chennai: With a post-poll return surge building along the Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road, traffic police in Tambaram and Chengalpet have moved into high-alert mode. They are deploying diversions, staggered entry points, and on-ground personnel to prevent a repeat of Sunday's choke points.
Morning Bottlenecks and Steady Traffic
From early morning, the arterial stretch between Chengalpet and Tambaram saw traffic thicken steadily. A mix of state-run special buses, private buses, cars, and goods vehicles streamed back towards the city. Bottlenecks were reported at Singaperumal Koil, Kattankulathur, Guduvanchery, and Urapakkam, where signal holds and pedestrian crossings slowed movement to a crawl.
"It has become routine during long weekends. We end up spending more hours on the road waiting for traffic to ease," said S Sathish from Salem, who returned to the city by car on Sunday.
Police Plans to Ease Congestion
Officials said that by evening the rush had reduced. Deputy Commissioner Samay Singh Meena of Tambaram traffic police said they anticipate a huge rush in the early hours of Monday and have made elaborate plans to keep congestion minimal. To decongest Kilambakkam, one of the worst-hit nodes, police have coordinated with transport authorities to stagger bus halts outside the core stretch.
"Heavy vehicles are being diverted at Tindivanam and Chengalpet. Private buses will be stopped at Potheri for passengers to shift to suburban trains instead of coming to Kilambakkam. Similarly, SETC buses will be stopped at Kattankulathur. If necessary, vehicles can be diverted via Outer Ring Road as well to ease congestion," said the officer.
Paul Rajkumar, DRO and in-charge of Kilambakkam bus terminus, said MTC buses are positioned on the opposite carriageway to reduce dangerous road crossings and speed up passenger dispersal.
Additional Bus Services and Railway Crowds
It may be noted that the state transport corporations operated 1,295 additional buses apart from the regular operation of 2,092 buses on Saturday, and the number of special buses increased to 3,184 on Sunday. Apart from the GST Road, Tambaram railway station also witnessed an unusual crowd on Sunday, as long-distance passengers reached Chennai through one-way special trains and unreserved MEMU express trains.
By 8 pm, traffic started swelling slowly on GST Road.
