Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Is Sathy Road safe for pedestrians?

K. Jeshi

COIMBATORE: Waking on the busy Gandhipuram Road is never an easy task. A central point for long-distance buses, mini autorickshaws and State Transport Corporation buses, there is busy traffic on the road at any point of the day. For office-goers, students and businessmen, the junction serves as the connecting point to reach various destinations inside the city.

The stretch on Sathy Road beginning from the Crosscut Road Junction to the traffic signal near 100-ft Road makes the problems worse for pedestrians. Rows of two-wheelers and four-wheelers encroach upon the walking space as the stretch is declared as a parking zone. Most of the vehicles occupy the space beyond the allocated parking zone. This forces the pedestrians to walk along with the traffic. One minute of carelessness and their life is in danger because long-distance buses plying towards places like Sathyamangalam come at very high speeds on this road.

What adds to their woes is that in the four-wheeler parking area, apart from cars, autorickshaws are parked in a haphazard manner occupying every bit of space. There is a bus-stand adjacent to the 100-ft traffic junction.

A large number of people walk on the stretch from the bus stand during the evenings and mornings to reach their offices and homes. Narrow lanes from the main road leads to residential settlements.

Says R. Rajamanickam, who owns a commercial outlet on this stretch: " The problem is lack of civic sense among the vehicle users and high-speed driving. The vehicles spread into the main road from the allocated space. In such congested places, the speed of the moving vehicles should be kept minimal."

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