Chennai roads choked ahead of weekend – Times of India

CHENNAI: Ahead of an extended weekend, shopping areas in the city and highway roads covering the suburbs were choked with traffic on Thursday evening.
The government declared Friday a holiday on account of Muharram and Onam is celebrated till Monday. So, textile units, retail stores, flower and fruit shops in areas like T Nagar and Purasawalkam were crammed with people after office hours leading to traffic pile-ups on arterial roads. Cab availability was also affected as drivers took more time than estimated to pick up or drop off passengers. In some parts of south Chennai, there was at least 20% surge pricing after 6pm. Autos too made a killing.
People who planned a short holiday trip to resorts on ECR and Puducherry used Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR), causing traffic snarls ups at multiple junctions on the IT corridor including SRP Tools, Thoraipakkam and Sholinganallur.
Toll gates and construction works on OMR and ECR worsened congestion as cars had to wait for 30 minutes longer than usual to cross the 10-km stretch between Taramani and Sholinganallur, said S Karthick, who works at TIDEL Park.
Large parts of Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road were tied up in traffic snarls. The demand for private buses to southern districts like Madurai, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin shot up, with bus operators at the Koyambedu bus terminus selling tickets at ₹1,000 and above for a oneway commute to Madurai.