Fixing a High-Risk Junction with Project Rakshak at Taramani IIT Gate, Chennai

The site

The IIT Madras gate at Taramani sits on a corridor that moves campus traffic, BPO commuter flows and arterial through-traffic in the same window. Team Sentinels, a student squad under Project Rakshak, spent two weeks walking and timing the junction.

What the audit found

• No pedestrian phase

  The signal cycle has no dedicated walk interval for students crossing the gate.
• Faded markings

  Stop lines and lane markings have worn off; drivers improvise lane discipline.
• Absent advance signage

  No school/campus zone warning ahead of the junction.
• Encroached footpath

  Vendors and parked autos push pedestrians into the carriageway.

Proposed interventions

• Pedestrian phase

  Insert an all-red 15s phase aligned with class and shift changeovers.
• Repaint and rumble

  Repaint stop lines and add rumble strips on the IIT approach.
• Advance signage

  Yellow campus-zone boards 100m before the junction in both directions.
• Footpath reclamation

  Bollards and clear hawker zoning to restore the walking lane.

Voices from the corridor

What happens next

The Team Sentinels report has been submitted to Chennai Traffic Police and GCC engineering. Project Rakshak will return in six months to audit what was implemented — and publish the scorecard.