A decision on developing the 44-km Kundannur-Angamaly NH Bypass as an access-controlled stretch or as a semi-access controlled one will be taken based on an assessment of the number of vehicles that are likely to use the stretch, it is learnt.
Traffic observers say that an access-controlled highway will ensure faster commute, while preventing frequent hiccups to smooth travel that abound on the Aroor-Edappally NH 66 Bypass and the Edappally-Angamaly NH 544 stretch. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had in 2016 mulled it as an access-controlled stretch since a whopping 1 lakh passenger car units (PCUs) used the other two stretches, creating congestion at junctions and other bottlenecks.
Even as the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways approved the alignment of the Kundannur-Angamaly NH Bypass, its concurrence is still awaited to begin land acquisition. This has in turn delayed the uploading of the crucial 3(A) notification issued under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The inordinate delay persists, even as the Centre agreed to bear the entire cost of acquiring approximately 287 hectares for the project, if the State exempted it from State GST.
Once the proposed NH Bypass is readied, the authorities are expected to take a call on constructing a spur road to link it with the alignment of the Thripunithura Bypass, for which land was frozen over two decades ago. Landowners there were on the warpath, demanding realisation of the corridor that had in 2020 been included in the Centre’s Bharatmala Pariyojana project.
In the meantime, survey is under way for the Kochi-Theni NH 85 greenfield highway. It is expected to take off from Puthen Cruz, while vehicles towards Kochi are expected to use the six-lane Kundannur-Angamaly NH Bypass that will take off from a trumpet intersection proposed south of Kundannur Junction on the NH Bypass.
