With piling work getting over in Aroor side of the Vyttila Junction for the proposed flyover, PWD (NH wing) would intensify piling and related works on the Palarivattom side.
This has in turn given rise to the demand that the agency ready slip roads on this side of the road before extending the barricades, to prevent worsening of severe traffic gridlocks at the junction. Responding to this, P.T. Thomas, MLA, said that traffic chaos at Vyttila and on roads leading to the junction could have been prevented had the PWD emulated KMRL/DMRC, which readied bridges and developed alternative corridors to divert traffic much before Kochi metro’s piling began.
The PWD (NH wing) must construct slip roads as promised, widen service roads and also build a wider underpass beneath the railway bridge at Vyttila to lessen traffic snarls, since ambulances and other emergency services too are caught in the quagmire. On its part, PWD (Roads wing) must take over Thammanam-Pulleppady Road from the Kochi Corporation, as was stated by Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac at the work inauguration for Vyttila flyover. It must also widen bottlenecked areas, including Thammanam Junction, so that vehicles proceeding to the city hub can avoid Vyttila, Mr. Thomas said.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (City Traffic East) Abdul Salam said that inadequate preparatory works by the PWD had resulted in the police being unduly blamed for traffic snarls at Vyttila. There was less than five-metre-wide space for vehicles on Aroor side of the junction, though the PWD assured seven-metre width to enable two-lane traffic, he said.
Directive to PWD
The PWD should have emulated RBDCK which has announced construction of slip roads and widening of service roads, before beginning flyover work at Kundannoor. “We have directed PWD not to further increase barricades unless drains are relocated and service roads are integrated with the NH Bypass,” Mr. Salam added.
He referred to the continuous flow of container lorries through the junction as another reason for traffic snarls.
“The District Collector had banned their passage through Vyttila during peak hours. We will begin imposing fine on rule violators. The ro-ro container ferry service between Willingdon Island and Mulavukad must resume so that these lorries can use it.”
In the meantime, PWD officials said that 85 of the total 140 piles were over on either side of the junction, a majority being in the Aroor side. Similarly, 13 pile caps, seven piers (pillars) and two pier caps too are over. A 37-m-long retaining wall is over on Palarivattom side, to construct a slip road.
