Traffic signals blink, put motorists at risk

According to members of the public, many signals are broken or non-functional at busy spots like Vadapalani, Valluvarkottam, Kodambakkam, Tiruvanmiyur, Tambaram, Arumbakkam and T Nagar, which is causing trouble for trouble motorists and pedestrians alike.

“During peak hours, the flow of traffic on Kodambakam High Road remains chaotic as the signal near Valluvarkottam is only partially functional. As the signal does not indicate right turn, the traffic congestion increases on the stretch,” said Dev Prasad, who passes through the area every day.

Though the work on repairing the damaged signals, including replacing the broken ones, is supposed to be undertaken periodically, there are no signs of it for a long time. “The signals change from green to red all of the sudden, without changing into orange light as it should, which forces drivers to apply brake all of a sudden. This leads to minor accidents almost on a daily basis,” said R Vignesh, a resident ofTiruvanmiyur.

This spells trouble not just for those on vehicles, but also pedestrians. “If the signals are not working properly, vehicles don’t stop to allow us to cross the roads. In most places, there are no traffic personnel to regulate traffic. So we have to keep waiting until traffic clears to cross the road at the junction near our school in Kodambakkam,” said Keerthi R, a student.

Some of the signals function irregularly – many on 100 Feet Road in Vadapalani, Anna Salai, MKB Nagar, Poonamallee High Road and Pursaiwalkam belong tothis category.  

This also puts traffic police personnel in trouble. Many of them have to struggle to regulate the traffic due to faulty signals, which have not been repaired for a long time despite conveying the issue to control room.

When contacted, senior officers said these would be repaired soon.