The road

A friend of mine once remarked about MCC: “Call this a college??!! It’s more like a holiday resort.. quiet.. green.. peaceful...” Of course there are more analogies, but we will not dwell on those, for this is not an article on MCC, but on how unfortunate it is that the road in front of the college (the Velachery Main road) is not the same.

Every person who enters college through the main gate in the morning will agree that I am not exaggerating when I compare crossing the road to an obstacle race. A little worse than an obstacle race because apart from jumping over auto headlamps and medians, squeezing between cars, tripping over cycle stands, and praying you don’t go deaf with all the honking going on around you, you also have vehicles creeping towards you from all points on the compass, ultimately leaving you with so little space that the larger of our species are sometimes forced to climb on top on the vehicle itself. Let us also not forget that the regular latecomers will also be busily messaging to find out if the professor has come to class yet, while running through this obstacle course.
As for those who come to college by bike, it’s a wonder that they manage to reach their classes before 8.30!!

The opposite occurs rest of the day. Now, the students are unable to cross the road because the vehicles, though few, are travelling fast. The Chennai municipality, out of concern for the MCCians has installed a speed breaker near the main gate. (I distinctly remember there were two last year!). However, that does not seem to be nearly enough, because though it smoothens the traffic on the MCC side of the road, while crossing the other side, one just closes her eyes, holds her friend’s hand, runs, and hopes for the best.

The situation is more serious than most realise. Apart from a countless accidents - both minor as well as major ones, there have also been many causualities. Two of our non-teaching staff fell prey to it in recent years.

The crossing, you will notice, is strangely aligned. It isn’t a crossroad, though one tends to think so. You just have the Velachery main road and a small side road leading to the station. Diagonally opposite is the main gate of MCC. If the MCC main gate had been directly opposite, or conversely, fifty meters down the road much trouble would’ve been saved. Unfortunately, since it’s just a few meters away, people tend to go on the wrong side of the road to get into college, not wanting to waste petrol going one kilometre down the road before being able to turn back. On the right side (while facing the main gate) is the East Tambaram bus stand, which takes up half the road leaving the other half only for both lanes. Thus, the traffic towards Selaiyur makes another diagonal near Palimar before they get into the proper lane. Also, the PTC buses insist on making MCC main a regular bus stop, which (though convinient for the MCCians who use tat particular mode of transport) does nothing to lessen the chaotic situation present. Of course, there is an occasional policeman sent over to man the traffic, but the situation, if you ask me, is beyond human control.
The solution also, isn’t all that simple. One can’t really move MCC main gate, can we? Nor can the path to the station be shifted without causing discomfort to many. The median can be extended, blocking traffic to the station from the left side of the road, with a U-turn further along and a zebra crossing installed for those who travel by foot, with a couple of speed bumps thrown in for good measure, but, unless I’m much mistaken, that will invite a lot of murmers from the east Tambaram residents who use the Chennai metro. Of course, one can hope that an over head bridge be installed connecting the two sides of the road, but that seems closer to day dreaming…