THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The uncertainty, which lasted for over an year, over the development of the two kilometre stretch between Chackai and Enchakkal is finally put to rest.
The development of this stretch hit a major roadblock after the government asked NHAI to not raze down the approach road towards Trivandrum International Airport. The government and NHAI have arrived at a consensus over the issue. It has been decided to construct a 1.6-kilometre flyover from Chackai ROB to Enchakkal, which will run parallel to the existing ramp.
As part of the first step, NHAI demolished the roundabout at Chackai junction on Sunday. However, NHAI officials said the construction of the flyover can be started only after getting the nod from their headquarters situated in New Delhi. “We have decided not to pull down the ramp. We asked the contractor to construct a flyover and to prepare an estimate for the said. It is expected to cost around Rs 142 crore. However, it will take around two months to get a final approval from the centre,” a top official said.
As per the proposal, the 19.6 metre wide one-way flyover will also have approach roads on either side at Chackai junction to facilitate movement of vehicles to Shankumugham side and Palayam side.
Traffic from Kazhakoottam towards airport will be able to use the existing road after coming down from the ROB at Chackai junction and then taking a U-turn to enter the approach road to the airport. While the vehicles coming from Enchakkal can use the existing road and those who go to the airport can directly enter the approach road near Ananthapuri hospital.
However, the flyover project could be a standalone project even though it will be constructed by the contractor KNR constructions who is developing the Kazhakoottam-Mukkola stretch into a six -lane corridor.
The flyover will be constructed separately since the deadline for completing the development of the 26.5 kilometre stretch will end in November this year. With just seven more months remaining to complete the work, NHAI is likely to set a new deadline for the flyover project.
The development from Chackai to Enchakkal entered into a deadlock after N S Srinivasan, the founder of NATPAC and road planner proposed a fly-over to avoid the demolition of the approach road. Earlier, NATPAC was entrusted by the government to come with the designs to construct a new approach road towards the airport. However, later, the plan to demolish the road was dropped following Srinivasan’s advise. It took several months of discussions between NHAI and the state government to reach a consensus over construction of a flyover.