Apart from introducing a system of mass rapid transport in Kerala, Kochi Metro Rail, work on which will begin on Friday, is expected to provide an image makeover for the city.
Narrow portions of roads beneath the metro’s Aluva-Pettah alignment will be widened and encroachers removed. The Aluva-Edappally stretch of NH 47 will be widened by around five metres, to ensure four-lane traffic when eight metres of the highway’s centre is barricaded. The stretch will have an additional width of one and a half lanes when the barricades are removed, said sources associated with the metro rail.
The Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) had promised to take steps to widen narrow junctions along the metro corridor, since their bell mouths block free left turns and smooth flow of vehicles. A proposal is on the anvil to widen the South overbridge into four lane, side by side with the metro’s works. The executing agency is yet to be decided.
The KMRL has also promised that alternative roads for diverting traffic will be developed.
New work culture
City resident and former Additional Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu P.C. Cyriac said that the metro would also usher in a new work culture in the State. “Most projects here are not completed in a time-bound manner. The DMRC is executing works on overbridges and other projects in Kochi in a prompt, meticulous way. This gives us the confidence that projects can adhere to the deadline, provided there is will power and reliance on modern machinery.”
While citing the need to integrate different modes of transport to ensure seamless change of transporting modes, he called upon the metro’s stakeholders, civic agencies and the KSRTC to ensure that there is a fewer number of cars and two-wheelers on the roads.
Bus routes must be recast and bus stops relocated so that buses become feeder services for the metro. Moreover, bus transport must be modernised since commuters are averse to riding private buses. More low-floor buses must be introduced so that there is a commuter-friendly and comfortable mode of public transport, Mr Cyriac said.
North bridge
The DMRC has, in the meantime, advanced the commissioning of the two central lanes of North overbridge to October. It had earlier fixed December as the deadline for the project which was undertaken as part of the metro’s preparatory works.
