The decades-long wait for a new bridge at Puthiyapalam in the city has borne fruit as the piling for the bridge has started on the east side of the Conolly Canal. While traffic has been banned on the existing bridge, which is soon to be demolished, a temporary bridge has been set up beside it for the convenience of local people.
The area was named ‘Puthiyapalam’ after the bridge that was constructed in 1982, until which it was known as ‘Kakkatheru’. The concrete bridge constructed in place of the earlier log bridge was too narrow to accommodate four wheelers and hence the locals demanded that the bridge be re-built to facilitate smooth traffic between Tali and Govindapuram as an alternative to the busy mini-bypass road.
A new and broad bridge here is expected to ease the congestion on the Tali-Kalluthankadavu road, which may escalate when the Palayam vegetable market is shifted to Kalluthankadavu.
The new bridge is being constructed by the Kerala Road Fund Board at a cost of ₹23.73 crore and is estimated to take two years to be completed. Earlier, around ₹35 crore were spent for land acquisition. Though foundation for the bridge was laid in July 2022, the construction was delayed due to acquisition issues.
The bow string arch model bridge will be 195-metre long, 11-metre wide with 7 spans and will have a 1.5-metre wide walkway. It will have 383-metre approach road on the east side and 23-metre approach road on the west side besides 110 metre of service roads.
