The traffic along the Palarivattom-Kakkanad Civil Line Road is getting worse by the day, especially during peak morning and evening hours.
Six critical points
It has been pointed out that any marked improvement in the nightmarish traffic situation will need intervention at six critical points where multiple byroads converge.
Alinchuvadu, where vehicles enter the Civil Line Road through two byroads — Edappally-Tripunithura Road and Vennala High School Road — is the point where the traffic starts to get messy.
Traffic often gets held up at these points as vehicles from the Palarivattom side bound for Vennala and Eroor take the right turn and vehicles from the byroad from the Vennala side also take the right to proceed towards Kakkanad.
Things are no different a few metres away at Padivattom where multiple byroads offering outlets for motorists to proceed towards Pipeline and NH Bypass converge at Civil Line Road.
“A similar situation persists at Chembumukku and Vazhakkala though we have managed to improve the situation a little by erecting a median,” said Thrikkakara MLA P.T. Thomas.
Padamugal where Vennala-Palachuvadu Road meets the Civil Line Road opposite a mosque is another traffic flash point. Road dividers are yet to be erected there, leaving police officers with a tough job.
Motorists bound for the District Collectorate and Infopark and Seaport-Airport Road take the right turn a few metres after Padamugal. While those bound for the Collectorate and Infopark have to wait for the signal at the Collectorate Junction, the supposed free-left to the Seaport-Airport Road is often blocked by motorists waiting for signal in a haphazard manner.
This has a cascading effect on the Civil Line Road as well.
Widening of junction
“This problem can be addressed only through the widening of the junction. The possibility of setting up a roundabout has to be explored. A meeting to discuss these measures will be convened shortly by the Collector with the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK), which is the owner of the Seaport-Airport Road,” Mr. Thomas said.
M.S. Anilkumar, the president of Thrikkakara Residents’ Associations’ Apex Council (TRAAC), called for freeing the encroached area along the road at places such as Vazhakkala and Chembumukku. He also called for relocating autorickshaw stands, limiting the number of autorickshaws along the busy stretch and providing an alternative dedicated parking space.
Unless alternative measures are explored, vehicular traffic along the stretch is only going to turn worse, especially when metro rail project work starts as part of the second phase expansion to Infopark.