Resumption of bus services on E.B. Road remains a non-starter
Lorries continue to be parked on East Boulevard Road.
Resumption of bus services on East Boulevard Road (E.B. Road) in the city has remained a nonstarter for several years.
West Boulevard Road and East Boulevard Road, which run parallel, are arterial roads in the city. Though they are classified as bus route roads, the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) and the private bus operators, run the buses only via West Boulevard Road and skip the East Boulevard Road.
It has been a longpending demand of the people to resume bus services on East Boulevard Road. The people, who live in the residential colonies along the road, have been making this demand for over 20 years. The issue has been discussed at several meetings of the District Road Safety
Council headed by the Collector. The members would invariably question the Regional Transport Authorities, the police, and the TNSTC for failing to resume bus services. There were instances of the Collector’s intervention on many occasions to resume bus services. But, bus services have not materialised. There were attempts to resume bus services in the past. Sincere attempts were made when K. Rajamani was the Collector in 2017. Similarly, his successor S. Sivarasu also took efforts to resume the bus services. Some buses were operated after Inigo Irudhayaraj of the Christhuva Nallenna Iyakkam became Tiruchi East MLA. However, after a few days of operations, the services were again stopped.
According to sources, the bus operators show little interest in operating buses via
E.B. Road because of traffic bottlenecks as it runs close to Gandhi Market.
Citing completion of underground drainage work and the roadwork, local residents said the bus transporters could no longer cite poor condition of the road as a reason for skipping the bus services. “The width of road with the centre median is sufficient to operate buses on both directions. It is time to resume bus services,” says D. Senthil Kumar, a resident of E.B. Road.
In the absence of bus services, the residents point out that the traders and the heavy vehicle mechanics occupy the public space to carry repair and maintenance of vehicles, If the operation of bus services becomes regular, encroachments would come down. Moreover, the traffic police should identify problematic spots and take action.