Concrete and steel bollards have found place in corridors developed under Thiruvananthapuram City Road Improvement Project (TCRIP) to ensure safety of the pedestrians and to curb illegal parking.
The bollards are being relied upon, as the other time-tested methods, including the enforcement drive by the traffic police had failed to yield the desired results in the busy corridors.
Steel bollards have been installed on the paved footpath of the Attakulangara-Sreevarahom stretch. The yellow coloured bollards with 50-cm height from the carriageway have been installed 10 cm away from the kerb to ensure that the motor vehicles do not get damaged.
“We were forced to go for bollards to check the illegal parking of buses and lorries on the paved footpath, dumping of garbage, and anti-social activities,” Managing Director, TRDCL, Anilkumar Pandala told The Hindu .
The illegal parking and the static load of these vehicles was resulting in causing heavy loss to the concessionaire on account of repairs.
The concessionaire of TCRIP had earlier used the concrete bollards integrated with the drain slab near the private hospital in Fort area. This was to curb illegal parking by the private stage carriers that had damaged the drain slabs below the paved footpath.
The move also benefitted the pedestrians, who can now walk freely without stepping into the busy road.
The same integrated bollards are being installed on the West Fort-Airport road now. Some of them have been installed near a private marriage hall and a women’s hostel to check illegal parking. The concrete bollards are 40 cm above the carriage way and are designed to prevent road users from sitting on it.
The TRDCL is of the view that the bollards had to be installed in busy corridors where the paved footpaths are being misused by motor vehicles for parking. The stretch from Old Collectorate to Nalumukku needs bollards, he said.
The major hurdle in installing it in all vulnerable corridors is that it has not been included in the detailed project report. A steel bollard costs Rs.800, a concrete bollard Rs.1,400 and an integrated one Rs.5,000. The Kerala Road Fund Board has to take a call on the proposal given to this effect by the concessionaire.
