THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After a hiatus, the traffic jam in the Balaramapuram-Pravachambalam stretch is choking the commuters. There was a short relief immediately after the first phase of work was finished in the Neeramankara-Pravachambalam stretch of the highway. The ongoing construction of the Kodinada-Pravachambalam stretch has slowed down the traffic, which reaches the peak in the mornings and the evenings. This could have been avoided with a little forethought in setting up diversions.
“The bus stop in Pravachambalam junction has added to the bottleneck as it is situated at the tail end of the junction where the roads from Balaramapuram and Ooruttambalam converge. We get called every other day to maintain the traffic,” said a police officer of Naruvamoodu station.
“Basically, the vehicles are instructed to go slow in the region owing to the construction work. There is also an outflow of vehicles as they lead from the rural limits to the city limits. We often dispense officers to bring the traffic under control,” said an officer of Nemom police station.
Apart from the traffic jam during office hours, there is a bigger danger lurking in the stretch - no ample warning boards where the construction of the highway is under way. “We have given directions to display boards at visible spots and other forms of warning signs to aid the commuters,” said an officer of Nemom police station.