There is no need to acquire additional land to build a four-lane flyover at Kathrikadavu Junction on Thammanam-Pullepady Road, what with plenty of innovative solutions available, it has emerged.
The Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB), Public Works Department (PWD), and other agencies which are associated with the proposed development of the road into a four-lane stretch with a width of 22 metres and its extension to M.G. Road and the NH Bypass, had expressed scepticism about realising the flyover at the junction, citing the need to acquire an additional 10 metres of land on either side of the junction to build service roads beside the flyover.
Former chief engineer of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) G. Keshava Chandran, who oversaw the Kochi metro work and subsequently the reconstruction of the Palarivattom flyover, said a four-lane bridge and service roads could easily be accommodated within the 22-metre space. “A four-lane flyover built as per NH standards will need a total of 15 metres of width, 14 metres for the carriageway and a metre for the kerb on either side. This leaves seven metres of open space on either side of the flyover. Service roads measuring 3.5 metres each can be built on either side to ensure smooth flow of vehicles at the ground level,” he said.
The busy service roads of the Ernakulam North bridge, which was widened to four-lane as part of the Kochi metro’s preparatory work, are an apt example of vehicles moving in one-way direction along service roads having similar width.
Mr. Keshava Chandran cited the rebuilt Palarivattom flyover as an instance of an innovative method that was adopted to lessen the extent of land occupied by flyover pillars. “Single columns/piers [which were strengthened using concrete jacketing as part of the reconstruction of the flyover] support the four-lane flyover. This does away with the need for multiple pillars which occupy considerable width,” he said.
Official sources said the detailed project report (DPR) for widening and extension of Thammanam-Pullepady Road, which was readied by the PWD’s design wing, is ready. It does not mention the flyover, over fears that land will have to be acquired at additional width on either side of the 500-metre flyover that will have to be built at Kathrikadavu. A decision on whether to include a four-lane flyover in the DPR is awaited, they added.
Stakeholders, including residents associations, had expressed fear that there would be traffic chaos at the already congested junction in the absence of a flyover to bypass the junction, when the four-lane road project is realised.
