Nod for second phase of four-lane airport road

With hardly a year left for the commissioning of its new state-of-the- art international terminal, the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has got cracking on establishing a new access way connecting it with the National Highway 17.

Senior company officials said the recently held CIAL Director Board meeting approved the second phase of the four-lane airport road, including the construction of an additional railway overbridge. The total outlay for the second phase, which also includes the construction of an additional railway overbridge near the existing one and a road up to the terminal entry point, is estimated to be around Rs. 30 crore.

The airport company has already completed developing a 2.5-km stretch starting from the Highway to the Golf Course club at a cost of Rs.21.3 crore and opened it for traffic.

“The cost of establishing the ROB is estimated to be Rs.11 crore, which will be handed over to the Railways department. Tenders have been invited for the remaining works and on completion, it will cut the travel distance by 1.5 kilometres,” said a senior company official.

The road takes an elevated route before reaching the central block of the terminal.

The design and alignment of the road, with a three-layer bitumen surface, is stipulated to be in conformation with specifications laid out by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. It will have a carriage way of 7 metres to each side, separated by a 3-metre wide median.

On its completion, the existing road to airport will be converted as a feeder road to the CIAL convention centre.

CIAL expects the traffic on the existing approach road is bound to increase over the next few years and a new widened road is required to maintain a safe traffic density and avoid congestion during peak hours. The number of vehicles using the two-lane road has almost multiplied over the last few years with the airport’s growth and it is estimated to double in every 5-6 years.

A traffic survey conducted by Airport Company in 2012 put the number of vehicles using the road here during peak hours at 2,200, with one car passing in each eight seconds.