With the Kochi metro slated to be extended to Thripunithura SN Junction by 2021 and up to the terminal station proposed near the railway station, preparatory work to widen the narrow SN Junction-Poothotta stretch is under way.
The proposed development of the 15-km road as a 22-metre-wide, four-lane corridor will end the perennial traffic hold-ups on the busy Thripunithura-Vaikom road. A sum of ₹300 crore had been allotted for the project in the 2019 Budget. The final alignment is ready, official sources said.
Thripunithura Rajanagari Union of Residents’ Associations (TRURA) has sought tangible measures to realise the long-overdue road development project and resurfacing of the entire corridor. “The government must also allot funds to complete missing links on Seaport-Airport Road and widen it,” said V.C. Jayendran, convenor, TRURA.
ADVERTISEMENT
Narrow roads, mostly owned by the PWD, abound in the town, which was the headquarters of the erstwhile Kochi Kingdom. The government must allot funds to ensure their widening. Decades of indecision has resulted in the 8-km Thripunithura bypass project being a non-starter, said sources in PWD.
The project ran into trouble in 2019 when survey stones were reportedly laid beyond the areas that were frozen for land acquisition, following which there were instances of landowners allegedly manhandling workers engaged in the work. The Thripunithura Municipality had frozen construction activity or sale of land located within 16.5 metres from the centre of the SN Junction-Poothotta road.