Nettoor Junction in Kochi likely to get cloverleaf flyover

Nettoor Junction may get a cloverleaf flyover to accommodate traffic from multiple national highway corridors.

Nettoor Junction on the Vyttila-Aroor NH bypass where the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had mulled a trumpet flyover to cater for vehicles that are expected to converge there from at least three national highway corridors, could get a clover-leaf flyover, based on the outcome of the detailed project report (DPR) that is being readied for the elevated highway proposed on the 16-km Edappally-Aroor bypass, considered the busiest NH stretch in Kerala and used by over one lakh passenger car units (PCUs) daily.

Replying to Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden in the Lok Sabha on Thursday on the steps that the NHAI had taken to designate Nettoor as the converging point for four NH corridors, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nithin Gadkari said the alignment options included a clover-leaf intersection (flyover) at Nettoor. It would be finalised in consultation with defence (Navy) and the Cochin Port Authority (CPA) and would be based on the outcome of the DPR, fulfilment of criteria, requirement of connectivity, priority, and synergy with the PM Gati Shakti National Masterplan. Nettoor has been identified as a junction point of the proposed Kochi Bypass on NH 544, the proposed Greenfield NH 966-B and NH 66, Mr. Gadkari added.

Mr. Eden had specifically enquired whether a decision had been taken to establish a clover-leaf intersection at Nettoor, instead of a trumpet flyover that had been under consideration.

Cloverleaf flyover, also known as cloverleaf interchange, is a type of road junction designed to allow smooth traffic flow between intersecting roads or highways, resembling a four-leaf clover in shape. The primary goal of a cloverleaf interchange is to enable vehicles to move between intersecting roads without stopping or crossing the flow of traffic. In a trumpet interchange at junctions, grade separation and looped ramps are used to allow traffic to pass through without directly crossing other traffic streams.

Mr. Eden also asked whether the NHAI and the CPA had resolved land acquisition issues for the proposed NH 966-B and also whether the revised alignment for the corridor had been finalised.

It had been reported that the construction of a four-lane port connectivity national highway (NH 966-B) in the Nettoor-CIFT Junction corridor was encountering rough weather after the CPA sought a change of alignment for the proposed highway as it entered Willingdon Island. National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML) and the NHAI agreed to it, provided the CPA handed over ₹100 crore as additional expense for the approximately 2.20-km change of alignment in the vicinity of CIFT Junction for the proposed 6-km-long NH corridor.