Five more model safe corridors, aimed at zero road accidents, are to be created in the State under the Challenge Fund of the Phase II of the World Bank-aided Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP).
The model corridors will be on the lines of the 80-km Vettu Road-Thycode safe corridor demonstration project on the Thiruvananthapuram-Adoor stretch of MC Road. The accident-prone road corridors of Pavangad-Korapuzha in Kozhikode (5.5 km), Thrissur-Kunnamkulam in Thrissur (24.3 km), Vypeen-Munambam in Ernakulam (25 km), Kottiyam-Kundara PWD road in Kollam (11.6 km), and the 5 km Medical College-Kannammoola-Pettah corridor in Thiruvananthapuram are the identified stretches.
The proposals, to replicate the safe corridor model and adopt good practices and proven road safety interventions, from the respective district road safety councils had reached the KSTP office with the nod of the Kerala Road Safety Authority, sources said.
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Many new features
Road markings and concepts such as ‘yellow box marking’ on hazardous stretches and ‘right turn protected lane’ for safe right turn on the Vettu Road-Thycode corridor had been lauded.
The sources said the Pavangad-Korapuzha corridor had already been taken up by the KSTP and civil works were in progress. The detailed project report (DPR) for the remaining stretches had been entrusted to the consultants.
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On the NH 66 stretch between Pavangad and Korappuzha, multi-sector road safety interventions, including engineering and enforcement-related treatments, at ₹10 crore had been proposed.
On the Medical College-Kannammoola-Pettah section, safe walkway and crossing facilities for pedestrians, safety enhancement in school and hospital zones, bus stops with shelters , improvement of junctions and traffic calming measures, and GPS-enabled emergency vehicle priority system at Kumarapuram Junction would be in place.
On the Kottiyam-Kundara road, accident black-spot improvements, junction improvements, safety enhancement at school zones, road markings and signages, and traffic enforcement cameras had been proposed.
Refurbishing footpath with barrier, surveillance cameras at major junctions with control room and relaying of 25 km of road figure for the Vypeen- Munambam corridor of the State Highway, where 230 accidents resulting in 26 deaths were reported in 2018.
For the Thrissur-Kunnamkulam stretch, the PWD (Roads) had proposed pedestrian footpath, intersection improvement , bus shelters with e-toilet, and speed violation detection cameras.