The detailed project report for the flyovers proposed at Edappally, Palarivattom, Vytilla and Kundanoor is getting ready, with two flyovers each mooted for Edapally and Vytilla junctions.
The flyovers were mooted over half a decade ago because of the burgeoning traffic through the NH 47 bypass. Though the stretch is four-lane in most portions, it carries as many vehicles that only a six or eight-lane highway can handle. With a massive shopping mall and another textile showroom coming up at Edappally, the junction would soon see a manifold increase in vehicles and pedestrians.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had entrusted preparation of the DPR of the flyovers to Span Consultants about a year ago. Reacting to reports that the flyovers would cost a total of Rs.1,600 crore, a senior NHAI official said that the cost was yet to be finalised and that it was unlikely to be as high.
The two junctions would have two flyovers each since the roads perpendicular to the NH bypass too are very busy. The proposed metro rail would pass through the junctions, while a skywalk has been proposed at Vytilla connecting the metro rail station with the mobility hub.
Meetings held
Officials of the authority held a series of meetings with those from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and the Vytilla Mobility Hub Society, to fix the elevation of the flyovers at the two junctions.
“We have specified our requirements to the NHAI and most of them have been incorporated in the DPR being prepared. A few more modifications have been forwarded to them so that both vehicular traffic and the metro rail can proceed smoothly,” said a DMRC official.
As per the present proposal, the metro rail would pass over the flyovers proposed at the junctions. The second flyover at the two junctions should either be at the same height as the metro rail or a little lower, he said. This is because the metro stations are not built taller than the first floor height.
On how funds would be raised for the six flyovers, NHAI sources said that the Centre and State governments would discuss the issue. “We might even have to introduce toll on motor vehicles.”
Referring to the fate of the elevated highway mooted from Edappally to Aroor, he said that though desirable, it had been put on hold considering the prohibitive cost. Speaking about the plan to have a clover-leaf junction at Vytilla — the biggest and the busiest junction in the State, he said that the junction had many high-rise buildings constructed in violation of norms. They hamper any further widening. Moreover, such a structure needs a minimum number of vehicles from all four directions, he said.
The four junctions where flyovers have been mooted would become less congested once the flyovers are ready and the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala widens and extends the Airport-Seaport Road (which runs parallel to the Kundanoor-Edappally stretch of the NH bypass) up to the airport, sources said.
