Even as the preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) for widening the Thammanam-Pullepady road and extending it to M.G. Road and the NH Bypass is in the final stage, stakeholders have decided to postpone the construction of a bridge at Kathrikadavu in the corridor to the second phase of the project.
The PWD (Design Wing) had submitted a draft DPR a couple of months ago to the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB), the agency which is executing the work. Among the options suggested was to limit the project to widening the road to 22 metres and extending it to either side, while constructing the bridge at Kathrikadavu in the second phase.
The PWD was to submit the DPR by the end of December. However, it has been postponed to January, sources said.
Mayor M. Anilkumar said it had been decided to extend the road and widen it into a four-lane stretch in the first phase, following which the bridge project will be taken up. “Constructing the bridge simultaneously will in all probability delay financial sanction for the road project, the work on which had begun three decades ago. The bridge construction can be taken up as a separate project soon after the road is realised. For now, efforts will be made to streamline traffic flow at the junction where the bridge was proposed,” he added.
Preparatory work to widen and extend the road is expected to begin once the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) approves the DPR for the road project. The DPR will have details like the estimated cost of the road project. In addition, the road owned by the Kochi Corporation ought to be fully vested with the PWD to obtain funds to speed up its widening. The land acquisition process will follow.
Mr. Anilkumar said the Corporation was working in tandem with the District Collector, MLAs, and others to speed up the development of the road. Review meetings are held every month. The bridge proposed at Kathrikadavu and the eastward extension of the road beyond Chakkaraparambu on the NH Bypass will be considered in subsequent phases.
A stakeholder associated with the road project said it had to be seen how potential traffic problems that could arise on the northern side of the Katrikadavu bridge when the road is developed ought to be addressed beforehand, failing which a situation like at Vyttila junction could develop. It is possible since the bottlenecked bridge at Kathrikadavu on Kaloor-Kadavanthra Road, located around 30 metres away from the junction, is even otherwise causing traffic hold-ups. The junction needs a bridge parallel to Thammanam-Pullepady Road, perpendicular to the old one, to ensure smooth traffic flow, he said.
