Traffic on GST Road

I have always had a feeling that the traffic on GST Road would be smooth and particularly so after the opening up of the Kathipara flyover (ofcourse, partially). I was in for a rude shock last thursday when I have to go to Chrompet to attend a marriage reception. Somehow I chose the MIOT hospital route from my home at Valasaravakkam to reach the Kathipara junction. That was the first mistake on that day. The road has been blocked near the Butt Road and was the vehicles are routed through an alternate route. That took more than 15 minutes from that point to reach Kathipara Junction. I felt a sigh of relief after reaching Kathipara Junction and started driving on the GST Road. The road was free and the traffic was flowing. Alas, that was only up till a kilometer or so before the airport. From that point onwards till we crossed Pallavaram, the traffic was chaotic and hardly moved few meters in a minute. It was really bumper to bumper traffic and finding space to drive was nerve-wrecking. It took almost 45 minutes for me to move from Meenambakkam and cross Pallavaram, all for a distance of 3-4 kms.

I was getting phobic with the traffic and my legs started paining having to use clutch, accelerator and brake almost every second. For good 3-4 kms, I could not see anything other than vehicles on both sides of the car. I had started at 7.00 PM from Valasaravakkam and reached Chrompet at 8.45 PM, a good one hour and 45 minutes for a distance of 12 kms. Lucky that the food was still available at the marriage reception!!

The biggest regret is that there is apparently no reason why there was such a slow-moving traffic. While driving, I thought there may be some accident or break-down in the middle of the road, which is causing the traffic to hold-up. But there is absolutely nothing of that sort and I later heard from people in Chrompet that the congestion during the peak hours is worst and it takes hours to cross Pallavaram and Meenambakkam. I really pity guys who have to drive on GST Road day in and day out.