Roads leading to Kundannoor witnessed traffic snarls on Monday with the commencement of piling for the construction of a six-lane flyover at the junction on the Edappally-Aroor NH Bypass.
A 150-metre-long stretch on the junction’s Vyttila side has been barricaded. Two rigs have been deployed for piling. More rigs will be arranged depending on how much more space can be barricaded for piling while causing least disturbance to traffic, said an official of Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala Limited (RBDCK).
Three national highways — NH 66, NH 966 B, and NH 85 — converge at the junction which is used by inter-State, inter-district and intra-city vehicles. They also include container-laden lorries from the Kochi port.
The service road was raised to the level of NH Bypass, prior to erection of barricades for piling on the junction’s north-western side. This is aimed at making optimal use of space available at the junction to divert vehicles. Work is nearing completion on raising service roads on the junction’s eastern side for barricading the area. A traffic police watch tower that protrudes into the free-left turn will be pulled down to make way for vehicles turning towards Maradu.
Officials said piling at the southern side of Kundannoor Junction would begin only after slip roads were built on the eastern and western sides. It will hew out one lane width on each side, in front of two star hotels.
According to schedule, the construction of the 701-metre-long, six-lane Kundannoor flyover has to be completed by Mary Matha Constructions by March 2020. The project cost is ₹74.45 crore.
Vyttila snarls
In the meantime, the traffic police have expressed concern at the worsening traffic snarls at Vyttila where flyover work is under way. It could worsen with the onset of monsoon and reopening of educational institutions in the first week of June, unless barricading is reduced and service roads are better utilised, they said.
On its part, the police have not been able to prevent passage of container lorries and sometimes that of extra-wide / tall lorries carrying cars through the junction during day time and evening peak hours.
