[headers]

Originally Posted by VW2010

3) This is the worst of the lot. After alexander square there are no roads. More offroading skills required and this is holding up traffic from Guindy bustand to Saidapet bridge by atleast 30 minutes depending on time of travel. 30 minutes at 12 noon. So evening and morning could be different beast all together.

I did the above stretch today between 15:27 and 15:29 hrs - Yes it took me 120 seconds to cover the section

[VW2010]

Yes it took me 120 seconds to cover the section

Have they relaid this section or something?

And i may have to add the missing part where i went on sunday the chruch crowd was also causing a huge traffic to cross. May be that adds another 20 minutes.

[headers]

Originally Posted by VW2010

Have they relaid this section or something?

And i may have to add the missing part where i went on sunday the chruch crowd was also causing a huge traffic to cross. May be that adds another 20 minutes.

I did feel a few potholes Yeah, gotta agree that the Church mass on Sunday does create a HUGE traffic pile up!

There is a shortcut from Kathipara Jn to Saidapet too, incase you want to know

[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Here you go, a sea change for Chennai come September, the first of it's kind in India as reported.
Sea change to Chennai traffic | Deccan Chronicle

sirji, first, let the CCTP/maintenance contractor service the existing signals and signal cameras. Thereafter they can install new systems. Whats the point of bringing in state of the art systems when they are not functioning after 3 months? Look at BMTP(Bangalore Traffice police), they are not much better, but atleast, their cameras and the integrated traffic management website is working almost all the time. As we all have heard in our movies,

"It doesnt matter who starts first, but all that matters is, at the end, who comes first".

so its not a big deal to be the pioneers of technological innovations, but to maintain a sustained level of advancement and making use of the installed facilities is what is the need of the hour and also for the future.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by Daewood

PH Road: 4 wheeler-50kmph, 2 wheeler- 40kmph
( on sections where metro work is going on 30kmpl for all vehicles)

Both these arterial roads are maintained by NHAI.

If you can manage to reach 30kmph in the above road, you are lucky especially from Arumbakkam to Chetpet.

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

If you can manage to reach 30kmph in the above road, you are lucky especially from Arumbakkam to Chetpet.

Very true. This strech is also notorious for having maximum number of fatalities in the city. Primary reason is uneven width of road.
To compound the woes NHAI is constructing a flyover near Anna Arch, which presently is actually wide enough. All that the flyover will accomplish is shift the bottleneck a few hundred feet away. Actually the Chennai Traffic Police have criticized this flyover plan and an article about that came in the papers a month back.

[VW2010]

Today travelled through the same stretch. Guindy bus stop to Ashok Leyland - 12 Minutes.

Ashok Leyland to Saidapet bridge - 5 minutes.

The roads have been relaid between alexander square and saidapet bridge.

But the problem between Benz show room and flyover still exists. It took me 9 minutes to cross this less than a km stretch.

Reason - Potholes.

[headers]

^^ @ VW: What time of the day do you traverse this stretch? I always manage to do it in single digit minutes FYI.

And what do you drive to slow down so much over small potholes?

I do Chennai - MM Nagar in 90 to 100 minutes and the worst parts are perungulathur, vandalur and gooduvanchery..

Mylapore to Airport is 45 - 55 mins at any given time. Oh I drive a car with 165-170mm GC :(

[VW2010]

@ Headers

I think i am just cursed with traffic or someones testing my patience for i have so far been cool with traffic.

Today at perungalathur bridge where i said the potholes are developing two motorist fell down. Thanks to the potholes which now have gone to the point where the steel rods used for concrete roads are showing up.

With a little rain the guy in front of me skidded, fell down and i felt he broke his hand. Luckily some deep scratches and wound and he escaped.

I have a feeling people are going to take some of these corrections on their own hands soon. We have been lazy enough to ignore.

[wildsdi5530]

I'm new to Chennai traffic and over the past 2 weeks, I've noticed something.
It's ok to break traffic rules like one way streets, traffic lights, no U turns, etc i the early morning and at night. everyone does it. But what are the timings? Some days you find everyone stopped at the signal at Binny road at 0700 and other times they don't bother about the red light even at 1200. Of course on GST, red lights are just ornamental, the bus never stops at any signal.
My friends and relatives tell me that it's just intution which I must devlop over years of living in Chennai, but I was hoping for some kind of guide.
I also understand that that breaking traffic rules is an offence and I would never jump a signal in Bangalore, but in chennai, if I stop at a signal, the vehiches behind me start honking and make me jump it.

[supremeBaleno]

^^^More than timings when you can break/follow signals, I would think it depends on the presence (or lack of) of a cop. Eg.if a cop is not present, you can see people ignore "No Free lefts", while everyone will wait if they see a cop at the junction.

BTW, it took me close to 30mins to just take a left from OMR at Sholinganallur junction to go to Ignite. Is it always like this ?

Spotted a silver Accent at the Landmark signal stranded with bonnet open - smoke / steam coming from the engine.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

It's ok to break traffic rules like one way streets, traffic lights, no U turns, etc i the early morning and at night. everyone does it. But what are the timings?

It's never ok, but people do it anyway.

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Eg.if a cop is not present, you can see people ignore "No Free lefts", while everyone will wait if they see a cop at the junction.

And if you do stop, often the cop will wave you on to take the left turn, despite the sign and the signal! Well, this is fair enough: direction from a cop should override --- but they act as if one was stupid to have stopped there at all!

[VW2010]

but they act as if one was stupid to have stopped there at all!

More than the act the frantic pace at which the police shouts at you to move and not block that spot is hilarious. They are like giving you nanoseconds to break the law and shout at you for not doing so.

Love India.

[Zed]

I remember an incident about 3 years ago when I was driving in 'downtown' chennai and stopped at what appeared to be a newly erected traffic signal - on account of the light being red & not to marvel at the new signal light. A cab guy behind me started honking and I made way for him by moving over to the adjoining lane to let him squeeze past ..he rolled down his window and yelled ' Dummy signal saar '. I haven't figured out what he was on about to this very day. The only plausible explanation is that he was trying to communicate that I was a dummy for stopping at a traffic signal when clearly there was no cop in the vicinity and traffic was relatively low.

[sjcherian]

One tactic I use at red lights is to check if the person behind me can safely stop ... I move to the sides otherwise and let them through. If they are a way behind - I will surely stop (they have no choice but to stop). Others notice you stop and will also stop - this feels good.
If/When the honking starts (while waiting at a red light) I open the driver side window and point to the red light with my right hand - this usually shuts them up.
One other hand gesture I have begun to use is to use both hands to mimic flapping or wings and tell the car behind to please fly over and please zoom past ! :-)
Usual places I have to do this are at the signal near the Hyderabad biryani when coming from Fountain plaza towards college road, signal near Brownstone apartments in Mahalingapuram (which is considered a dummy signal by many) but thats the only place pedestrians can cross over to the temple and the shops there.

If a cop asks me to go ahead with a light and there is no traffic - sure can do that as well.