Sreedharan suggests Palarivattom-like traffic arrangement at Vyttila

The clamour for an underpass at Edappally and an alternative traffic arrangement at Vyttila is increasing, with traffic snarls worsening at the two busy junctions on the Edappally-Aroor NH 66 as days pass by.

Matters took a turn for the worse at Vyttila during intense rainfall on Tuesday morning, as motorists were held up for up to around two hours on SA Road, its side roads and to a relatively lesser extent in other roads that lead to what is the biggest junction in the State.

The yearning for alternatives comes in the wake of the realisation that the six-lane flyover at Vyttila and the four-lane flyover at Edappally cater for just about 30% of the over one lakh passenger car units (PCUs) that cross the junctions each day. The rest of the vehicles are caught in winding snarls on all four directions, having to wait on end to cross the junctions.

Terming an underpass at Vyttila as non-feasible, former Principal Advisor to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), E. Sreedharan said the foundations of the metro-rail pillars on SA Road would come in the way. “An immediate and short-term solution is to emulate the traffic arrangement at Palarivattom [where U-turns on either side of the central spans of the flyover at that junction ensure continuous flow of vehicles in different directions].”

A similar arrangement can be made on the Palarivattom and Aroor sides of the Vyttila flyover. Inadequate vertical clearance, if any, can be compensated for by scooping out about a metre of the surface beneath the flyover, on the two sides. Two-lane corridors can thus be hewed out on both sides, enabling continuous flow of vehicles in all directions. There is no need to worry about water-logging on the scooped out area, since Vyttila Junction is at a relatively higher plane, vis a vis roads in the vicinity, he said.

Minimal land acquisition might be needed on the Palarivattom side of the junction, while parts of the massive roundabout and traffic islands beneath the flyover might have to be chipped away, to create space for vehicles and pedestrians. It is sad that the State government and the PWD have failed to initiate measures to streamline traffic flow at the junction, despite directives from the High Court, Mr. Sreedharan said.

A project submitted about five years ago by Better Kochi Response Group (BKRG), an NGO, to ready a ring-road around Vyttila, too remains on paper. On its part, the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) is yet to acquire half-a-dozen plots that are needed for the commissioning of Chilavannur Bund Road that begins from the southern side of Vyttila and runs parallel to SA Road.