Basin bridge can't handle traffic load; govt yet to act

Time of India

3 days ago

Chennai: Each morning, traffic piles up for more than a kilometre near Basin Bridge flyover, making the commute from North Chennai a daily ordeal. With no alternative routes, more than one lakh people including office-goers, schoolkids, and hospital-bound patients are forced to crawl across the city's oldest and most congested bridge, built between 1869 and 1873 by the British.
The bridge, with just a 6m-wide ascending arm and 19m descending arm, cannot accommodate the 20,000 vehicles that try to cross it during peak hours. The situation has worsened in recent months with traffic from the under-construction Ganeshapuram and R K Nagar flyovers being diverted here, adding more pressure on an already saturated stretch.
Ambulances are among the worst hit. Basin Bridge is the only direct link between major hospitals such as Rajiv Gandhi Govt General Hospital and Stanley Medical College Hospital.
"Emergency vehicles that have turned on their sirens are stranded in the jam. We have to run alongside and request two-wheelers to move," said a traffic constable posted at the junction.
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In April 2025, highways minister E V Velu told the Tamil Nadu Assembly that the govt would inspect the site and explore options to either widen the existing bridge or construct a new one. But three months later, officials say there has been no follow-up.
"We've heard nothing since from the minister on Basin Bridge inspection," said a senior highways department official.
Residents and civic groups say the issue has been ignored for too long. "The bridge should be rebuilt above the Highest Flood Level (HFL) such as Stephen's Road Bridge," said AJ Gopi, a Kodungaiyur resident.
For long-term decongestion, some have suggested a larger overhaul. "We need a temporary Bailey bridge now to ease peak-hour pressure," said G Sarathkumar, founder of Vyasai Thozargal. "Eventually, Diamond Junction should be modernized with smart signals, secure railway crossings, and Buckingham Canal should be desilted. All these contribute to the gridlock."
Meanwhile, even simple interventions such as widening footpaths or installing signboards — proposed months ago by Greater Chennai Traffic Police — remain unaddressed.