With many conventional flyovers and overbridges costing a fortune not bringing about the desired decongestion at several junctions in the city, traffic planners have sought cost-effective solutions like remodelling of junctions by making optimal use of space.
As a case in point, they cited the traffic congestion prevailing at Edappally even after a four-lane flyover was commissioned two years ago at the junction. They also expressed anguish at how moffusil buses stopped commuting through Subhash Bose Road (which runs parallel to SA Road) after the Ponnurunni overbridge was built.
“These are apt examples of unscientifically-built structures and poor planning. Traffic flow at Edappally would have been much faster if the flyover was built linking the NH Bypass with the Edappally-Guruvayur NH stretch where traffic volume is much higher, rather than in the east-west direction. Similarly, inadequate land acquisition for the Ponnurunni overbridge resulted in extremely narrow service roads on either side, following which buses, which used the route, stopped service,” said a transportation expert who was associated with redesigning the Edappally Junction where three national highways converge.
Metroman E. Sreedharan had said how huge traffic hold-ups on the Aluva side of the Edappally Junction could be considerably lessened by acquiring a small tract of land on the south-eastern side, in front of a hotel at the junction’s bellmouth.
There have also been demands to smoothen the free-left turn on the south-western (Palarivattom) side by merging the under-utilised service road with the NH Bypass. Moreover, the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) had maintained that the existing flyover at Edappally would have served its purpose better if it bypassed the Toll Junction located next door as well.
Fear is rife that the upcoming flyovers at Vyttila and Kundannur might encourage more people to venture into the city in private vehicles, worsening congestion at other junctions on the NH Bypass, Kumbalam toll plaza, Aroor bridge, and on roads that take off from the two junctions, the expert said.
Flyovers are good for freeways, and not always ideal for roads and highways within urban areas. Most often, they transfer congestion from one junction to others without flyovers or overbridges, said a traffic planner who was associated with redesigning a couple of junctions in the metro-rail corridor.
Another instance is Aluva, where the flyover built by the NHAI does not decongest the town. It should have been extended further towards Paravur Junction, bypassing two junctions towards the Thrissur side on the NH, he observed.
‘Modify junctions’
In urban areas, junctions must be managed with intelligence, rather than building physical infrastructure like flyovers. This can be done by using the ‘adaptive signalling system’ to regulate traffic based on the actual vehicle count, peak-direction traffic, average speed and a host of other deciding factors. Many such adaptive-signalling junctions can be built at the cost of a single flyover.
“We must invest in technologies, not on concrete. Concrete structures also take a toll on our depleting natural resources like hills, which are a rich storehouse of water,” said a former MVD official who is an avid votary of the need to augment public transport.
According to him, intelligently-planned signal systems are a traffic-calming equipment, which in turn decongest junctions and also reduce road accidents. Shifting to public transport is the long-term solution since it will lessen the rush of vehicles at junctions.
