New roads and widening projects planned to ease traffic congestion in Thoothukudi city

In a bid to reduce traffic congestion in the city, Thoothukudi Corporation has planned to lay new roads and widen the existing ones.

With each passing day, traffic snarls in the city are worsening, leaving residents and commuters groping for solutions to address persistent bottlenecks, even as summer begins to set in across the pearl city.

Gowtham, a resident of Tsunami Colony, said: “Compared to other parts of the city, traffic congestion is a never-ending story in VVD signal and road towards Third Mile.”

In many areas, street vendors have encroached the pathways and parts of roads, leading to further congestion in major locations in the city, he added.

Another resident points to the severe congestion in first and second railway gates, where people often get stuck during peak hours. As the second railway gate serves as a major route to many schools and hospitals, residents have called for development of appropriate infrastructure to ease the traffic flow in the area.

Mayor Jegan Periyasamy said that several development works had been carried out in the city and around 4,000 roads had already been laid. The Corporation had decided to widen several roads to ease traffic congestion.

Further, an order had been issued to construct end-to-end roads at several places including North Beach Road from Kaliyappar Street to Caldwell School, South Beach Road from Old Port Entrance to Bell Hotel Junction, and Corporation office to VVD Signal. “In addition, 278 new roads will be laid in the city at a cost of ₹31 crore,” he said.

On the congestion at 1st and 2nd railway gates, Mr. Jegan said, “Several years ago, the railway had proposed the construction of a rail overbridge. However, the project was shelved due to opposition from vendors.”

As residents were now seeking solutions to the issue, the Corporation planned to conduct a meeting with vendors and submit a fresh request to the railways. Also, Beach Road from Muthunagar to Port Railway Gate would be developed as a heritage road, as it housed several historical buildings. The initiative would be carried out under the PACT-Digi-PULSE project.