Dr. Nanjappa Road in near gridlock as vehicles make a beeline to enter Semmozhi Poonga

Traffic snarls have become a routine affair on one side of Dr. Nanjappa Road in Coimbatore after the opening of Semmozhi Poonga for the public from December 11.

The road came to near gridlock from afternoon on Saturday and Sunday due to heavy inflow of visitors to the park, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on November 25.

Besides the people who waited to enter the park, motorists and crew of buses had a tough time crossing the stretch from Gandhipuram bus stand to Park Gate junction on Saturday and Sunday. Parking of two-wheelers at non-parking areas on Dr. Nanjappa Road in front of the park is also adding to the congestion.

Several visitors, who waited for 15 to 20 minutes on the choked road to enter the park on Saturday, were told that the parking yard was full as they reached the entrance for four-wheeler parking.

According to the Coimbatore Corporation, the park has space to accommodate 1,000 two-wheelers, 453 cars and 10 buses.

Police sources said that personnel had a tough time handling the crowd on Saturday and Sunday. They cited that the main entrance of the park and the entrance for four-wheeler parking are connected to the narrowest part of Dr. Nanjappa Road, where Gandhipuram flyover’s approach section is situated.

District Road Safety Committee member K. Kathirmathiyon said concerns had been raised in two meetings of the committee in 2024 about the positioning of the two-wheeler parking area of the park at the narrowest part of Dr. Nanjappa Road. According to him, the road is too narrow to accommodate the entrance of a large-scale park that attracts hundreds of visitors.

The Corporation should make arrangements to keep digital displays on the stretch from Gandhipuram bus stand and the park, informing the availability of parking,” he said.

Corporation Commissioner M. Sivaguru Prabakaran said the park has ample parking space and the traffic snarls were caused mainly because of people who stopped their vehicles on the road. This has been communicated to the traffic police to prevent motorists from halting vehicles in front of the park. “As many as 27,400 people came to the park Sunday alone,” he said.