The city will undergo major traffic diversions and regulations as part of the construction work of the much-awaited Kochi Metro rail project.
The work, expected to start by April-May, will be carried out in four phases - Aluva-Kalamassery, Kalamassery-Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, stadium - south railway station and railway station-Pettah. Tenders have already been floated for the work.
The high-level meeting of Kochi Metro Rail (KMRL) officials, District Administration authorities and the City Police held on Tuesday discussed the traffic diversion plan during the construction phase.
The preliminary plan has been handed over to the stakeholders to formulate a detailed proposal taking into consideration the ground realities. A review meeting will be held in two weeks’ time to finalise the detailed plan.
“To undertake Metro works, four metres from from the centre of the highway will be barricaded. Work is planned in stretches of 200m and road widening will be taken up accordingly. Necessary traffic signs, lights, warnings, speed regulations and traffic controls at entry points of byroads will be displayed. To ensure two lane facility, road widening will be taken up on either side of highway,” said an official statement from KMRL.
Other major suggestions which came up during the meeting
include:
■ Redirecting traffic from northern side to city from Kalamassery through the container Road and High Court
■ Redirecting heavy and light traffic from northern and southern sides to city from Edapally Junction to Palarivattom and Vyttila through Bypass
■ Redirecting vehicles from Vyttila to city through Kadavanthra- Kaloor Road and enter city through Salim Rajan RoB once it is ready.
To divert and regulate the traffic along the Kochi metro alignment during construction stage, a proposal has been prepared. The plan will be deliberated by major stakeholders and finalised so as to minimise the difficulties for public.
The meeting, chaired by KMRL MD Elias George, was attended by District Collector P I Sheik Pareeth, Kochi range IG K Padmakumar, City Police Commissioner KG James, DCP (Admin and Crime) Mohammed Rafeeque, Aluva SP Satheesh Bino, KMRL director (projects) Mahesh Kumar, DMRC project director P Sreeram and Ernakulam RTO B J Antony.
The meeting discussed prime locations where traffic modifications are needed for the construction work.
“The Metro work stretches all the way from Aluva to Edappally, MG Road and Sahodaran Ayyappan road. These are all crucial locations where traffic has to be regulated to accommodate the vehicles when the work starts,” said IG K Padmakumar while speaking on the traffic modifications.
He said the two-lane roads have to be converted into one-way roads. For this, side roads have to be developed to accommodate the vehicles.
“There will be a lot of changes that have to be accommodated on traffic signals. Sign boards have to be set up at all these locations. School and college timings have to be considered while implementing the new traffic regulations,” he added.