The clearance of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is awaited for a list of proposals that were readied in 2018 to improve safety of motorists and pedestrians on the 16-km Edappally-Aroor NH bypass.
The road-engineering improvement works that are pending clearance of the agency’s head office are installation of cats-eye reflectors on the corridor to demarcate lanes, construction of drains alongside service roads to prevent waterlogging and covering the drains with slabs to ensure safety of road users and to prevent dumping of waste into them, official sources said.
Reflectors on the roads, atop medians, and bridges on the stretch are crucial to ensure safer navigation at night, since street lights on the corridor are inadequate and not available in some areas, for fast-moving traffic on the NH.
Open drains are becoming vulnerable to dumping of septic tank waste by unscrupulous lorry operators under the cover of darkness. Most such vehicles have fake or hidden number plates and this makes tracking them a tough task, they said.
With not many pedestrians using the five foot overbridges (FOBs) that were built on the stretch, stakeholders are keen to rope in firms that can install lifts on either side. This will encourage pedestrians to use the FOBs rather than risk their life and cross the busy NH corridor which has six-lane width in many areas. The box structure at either end can accommodate a lift each, they added.
The agency is under fire for not installing FOB at places like Chakkaraparambu, where over half a dozen pedestrians have lost their life in accidents during the past 12 years.
More toll plazas
The agency’s plans to increase the number of toll booths at Kumbalam toll plaza from eight to twelve is hanging fire, reportedly due to reluctance of a few landowners to surrender land. More number of booths would enable lesser waiting period and also ensure a dedicated lane for emergency vehicles, the sources said.
The NHAI is also keen to earmark parking and resting space for long-distance lorries and their drivers, away from the NH, to prevent haphazard parking on service roads.
The demand to relocate unscientifically located bus stops and those located at junctions and to paint pedestrian lines will be looked into, they added. On the flip side, the agency has not so far increased the width of service roads from 5.5 metres to 7 metres, something which it assured over five years ago. This would have enabled smoother flow of vehicles in either direction.
