Chennai’s roads descended into chaos as holiday-bound commuters fleeing the city for the weekend triggered unprecedented traffic snarls, exacerbated by morning rains and inadequate traffic management. Major arterial routes, including Mogappair to Ambattur, Saidapet, Nandanam, T Nagar, and Mount Road, saw vehicles crawling for hours, with a 5 km stretch between Mogappair West and Ambattur Industrial Estate taking up to three hours to navigate—triple the usual hour-long commute.

Commuters reported delays of 45 minutes at each signal, with residents like one from Ayanambakkam lamenting the absence of visible police presence amid vehicles clogging already saturated roads. The gridlock, worsened by schools and offices closing for the day, underscored Chennai’s chronic traffic woes as the city braces for the Deepavali rush.

The Greater Chennai Traffic Police attributed the congestion to a surge in holiday travellers, compounded by rain-induced damage near YMCA in Nandanam, which necessitated diversions and intensified snarls. K Johnson, a private employee from Ramapuram, recounted a two-hour morning commute to Mount Road—typically 50 minutes—followed by a 90-minute return despite a strategic stopover to dodge peak hours.

In Tambaram, Perungalathur and Kilambakkam faced slow movement, though 600 personnel and heavy vehicle restrictions on GST Road mitigated worse outcomes. An Avadi City Police officer acknowledged the deployment of sufficient personnel but admitted that sudden traffic spikes overwhelmed control measures, a recurring issue in a city where vehicular registrations have surged 12% annually, crossing 1.2 million in 2025.

Chennai’s infrastructure struggles to keep pace with its population of over 8 million and a metropolitan sprawl that ranks it among India’s most congested cities, with average speeds dipping to 18 km/h during peak hours, per a 2024 TomTom Traffic Index report. Morning showers, linked to a cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal, damaged key road sections, exposing gaps in civic preparedness despite Rs 500 crore allocated for monsoon-related repairs.

The absence of real-time traffic management systems, like adaptive signals seen in Bengaluru, further hampered flow. Motorists voiced frustration over inadequate signage and enforcement, with diversions at Nandanam catching drivers unprepared, clogging alternative routes like Anna Salai.

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As Chennai anticipates heavier Deepavali traffic, experts urge structural fixes, including expanding metro rail coverage—Phase II is 60% complete—and deploying AI-based traffic monitoring. The state’s recent Rs 3,000 crore investment in urban mobility, including flyovers on OMR, offers hope, but immediate relief hinges on bolstering police presence and preemptive road repairs. Friday’s ordeal serves as a wake-up call for civic authorities to prioritise resilient infrastructure, as commuters brace for more festival-season bottlenecks in a city where mobility remains a daily battle.

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