KOCHI: Better Kochi Response Group (BKRG) suggested that reducing the width of the proposed 45 metre National Highway without considering the future needs would be suicidal and will be raked up by the future generation.
Many people have come out with exaggerated figures, but in most areas, 45 m have already been acquired. The road specifications are fixed by National Highway and the Road Congress.
BKRG president S Gopakumar said that in Kerala opinions come from non-technical people spearheaded by politicians, land owners, bar hotel owners and heads of religious institutions.
The width of the Highway has again turned out to be a point of discussion with the CM’s announcement that we have no other option but follow the 45 m width suggested by the Central Government’s.
BKRG had already conveyed this point to the Chief Minister in writing signed by BKRG, KMA, Chamber of commerce, CII, Travel and Tourism, Institution of Engineers and Architects long ago. Unfortunately, the suggestion was not taken seriously and the government tried to get a special exemption of 30 m for Kerala. But one should bear in mind that the Centre has already given an exemption to by suggesting 45 m instead of the 60 m seen in other states.
Accidents are common on our roads unlike in other countries where the roads are of international standards.
Roads are like lifelines of a country that helps bring in development, he said.
Another important need is to have service roads on both sides of the highway especially in Kerala since we have a ribbon development and high population along the highway.
We also have a lot of slow moving vehicles like cycles, autorickshaws, scooters and the like moving through the highways and they can use the service roads. A proper footpath is needed for pedestrians. Service roads are also required for short parking and bus stops. Since the main carriage way is normally at a higher level service roads give easy access to the adjacent properties and allow easy surface drainage to prevent flooding.
It’s advantage 45 metre
The central median needs 4.5 m not for ‘poonkavanam’ but for vehicles to wait for making a U-turn without obstructing the regular traffic. The carriage way is 7 m with an extra space of 0.25 m on both sides.
On the side of the carriage way we need a paved shoulder of one metre and an earthen shoulder of one metre. This is actually less than the actual specification.
We need a footpath of 2 m since we have a lot of pedestrians. This can also be on the side of the service road instead on the side of the main carriage way. Between the service road and the main highway you need space for drainage canal and retaining wall. The service road need a width of 6 m for two lanes. In future, the highway can be upgraded for 3 lanes in each direction (total 6 lanes) provided the highway is changed to a ‘free way’ without allowing cross roads, right turns and U-turns by building flyovers, underpasses and grade separators. If it is changed to free way we don’t need 4.5 m for the central median since no car can do U-turns. The central median can be changed to 1.5 m instead of 4.5 m. The paved shoulders and earthen shoulder also can be avoided by giving proper service ducts. The space thus saved can be used to create the extra lane. This can be a future project when the traffic increases.
Talking about future, one may even have to think about 60 m width. Ideally, though the land is not immediately acquired, the government has to specify a building line for new construction which will not stand in the way of going for 60 m.