Chennai: From garbage-strewn, poorly lit, unsafe and slushy roads to better-lit, motorable and more pedestrian-friendly approaches – Avadi Corporation is planning a makeover of access roads to four railway stations in its jurisdiction-Avadi, Pattabiram, Thirumullaivoyal and Annanur.The initiative is part of a larger plan to strengthen public transport connectivity in the corporation limits. “Suburban network is the lifeline of Avadi and surrounding areas. These four major stations see good footfall. But some issues persist on access roads to these stations. We will be improving it,” said R Saranya, Commissioner of the Avadi City Municipal Corporation.The corporation will prepare detailed project report (DPR) and decide on the feasibility of this project. The focus will be on improving motorability of the roads, many of which are currently in poor condition and become slushy during the monsoon. “The plan will also include beautification and improved illumination, with the latter aimed at addressing safety concerns, particularly for women using the station approaches,” said a corporation official.This project becomes pertinent as the localities are seeing a real estate boom and more people are moving into these areas. “Out of these four stations – Avadi and Annanur have two Tasmac shops each near them. This poses as a security threat for women passengers who return late from work,” said Kathiresan, a resident of Annanur.T Sadagopan, President, Tamil Nadu Progressive Consumer Centre, said that there is no proper pedestrian path to reach station. “There is no proper safety for the commuters. The North Bazaar entrance needs a lot of improvement. We have been appealing to officials, but there has been no response,” he said.The project is envisaged as the first step towards creating better links between the railway stations and other public transport infrastructure. “The main idea is to remove the load from the road and encourage public transport especially with metro connectivity planned to Avadi and the upcoming Avadi bus terminus being developed by CMDA. Access and last mile connectivity has to be improved to achieve this,” added the Avadi corporation official.
