Steps are being taken to make the Valayampattu road over bridge on National Highway -48 safe for motorists and to prevent recurring accidents.
Police said the bridge located near Vaniyambadi has been accident prone, with a majority of incidents caused by over speeding of vehicles. On an average, at least 15 accidents – fatal and non-fatal – in a month are recorded at this stretch.
It is the ‘S’ shaped curve on the road over bridge (ROB) that has been the main cause of accidents.
Ramming on parapet wall
“Regular road users are aware of this curve and reduce the speed of their vehicles. But those unfamiliar tend to continue plying on high speed and lose control when they see the curve. They end up ramming into the parapet wall,” a policeman said.
When the frequency of accidents turned into a cause of concern, officials of the district administration stepped in with measures to make the ROB safe.
Road safety meetings
The issue has been raised and discussed during the road safety meetings chaired by the Collector.
“Concentrated efforts are being taken to reduce accidents on Valayampattu bridge. The Collector inspected the spot recently,” an official said.
The officials suggest increasing the height of the parapet wall, putting up sign boards to reduce speed well in advance on either sides of the stretch and fixing reflectors.
According to an official source, a proposal has been sent to the National Highways Authority of India to increase the height of the ROB’s parapet wall and establish crash barrier at the median.
Grills placed
“As of now, there are grills in some parts of the median. The crash barrier would ensure that even if a vehicle rams into it, it would not jump onto the other side of the NH,” he explained.
“The ROB is for 1.2 km but this critical stretch of the ‘S’ shaped curve is for 600 metres. The stretch leading to Bengaluru seems to be sharper, and hence, we are already taking measures to make the ROB safe for motorists,” an official said.
“It is not possible to take up re-construction. So, we are sensitising motorists to reduce speed,” he said.
Vibrating road studs
As of now, improvement works such as road markings and road studs (reflective markers) have been done.
“We have finished marking in such a way that it causes a vibration. Once the driver feels the vibration, it is an alert to reduce speed,” he said.
Already, caution boards on speed limit have been installed.
“The safe speed limit on this spot is 60 to 70 kmph. Only in this speed will a driver be able to manoeuvre the vehicle on the road over bridge. Any speed more than this will make the vehicle go out of control,” the official added.
Officials said that it is important to sensitise motorists to reduce the speed of the vehicles when nearing the ROB.
