KOCHI: The rapid increase in the number of vehicles over the years has literally clogged the Kochi roads, with an average delay of four minutes being observed on major corridors. However, the loss of time due to slow-moving traffic on stretches like Edapally-Aluva Road along NH 544 is as high as 14.5 minutes.
The details are revealed in a study held as part of the preparation of the draft Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) which found that a maximum delay of 14 to 15 minutes is observed on several stretches on NH 544 and NH 66, with the major reasons being heavy traffic volume and signals.
Some of the stretches that you should try to avoid travelling in order to prevent delay in journey time are the 14.34 km-long Cheranelloor to North Paravoor section (a delay of 12.82 minutes), the 3.93 km-long Banerjee Road (a delay of 10.25 minutes), 14.64 km-long Pipeline road (a delay of 8.95 minutes), 13.81 km-long Seaport-Airport Road (a delay of 8.20 minutes), 2.82 km-long Palarivattom-Edappally Road (a delay of 7.35 minutes) 11.65 km-long Aluva-Angamaly Road (a delay of 7 minutes), 4.40 km-long Civil Lane Road (a delay of 6.85 minutes) and the 9.86 km-long Kundannur-Edapally section (a delay of 6.48 minutes).
The average journey speed during peak hours in the Central Business District (CBD) is just 19.5 kmph. And if you are travelling through the Infopark-Thengode Road (2.50 km) during peak hours, you may see your vehicle moving at a snail’s pace at 9.222 kmph. The other slow-moving traffic stretches include Banerjee Road (12.18 kmph), Palarivattom-Edappally Road (13.44 kmph), Infopark Expressway (14.68 kmph), and Sahodaran Ayyappan Road (15.21 kmph).
Least travel delay
So if you want to reach your destinations, choose some of the least congested roads where the delay is comparatively less. These include the International Container Terminal Road from Kalamassery to High Court with the delay in travel time as low as two minutes.
Vehicles are found to be moving at an average speed of 25.52 kmph during peak hours and 31.04 during non-peak hours, the study found.
Similarly stretches like Nadakkavu-Mulanthuruthy Road (a delay of 0.05 minutes), Kundannoor Bridge (0.18), Mini Bypass Tripunithura (0.20), Thoppumpady-Edakochi Road (0.60 min), Kumbalangi Road (0.70 min), Alinchuvadu-Vennala Road (0.70), Kakkanad-Infopark Road (1 minute), Edayapuram Road (1 minute), Kaloor-Kadavanthra Road (1.10 minutes), Chittoor Road (1.25 minute), Chottanikkara-Mulanthuruthy Road (1.70 min) and Edakochi Road (2 min) are also comparatively less congested.
Traffic volumes
The study observed that the highest outer cordon traffic volumes are observed on NH-66 (at Aroor), followed by NH 544 (Angamaly). The highest traffic volumes at screen line locations (core city area) are observed at Banerjee Road (6,988 PCUs) and Venduruthy Bridge (6,264 PCUs).
In the mid-blocks, the highest volume of traffic is observed on NH 544 (8,017 PCUs), followed by Seaport-Airport Road (5,858 PCUs).
The highest traffic volumes at intersection locations are at Palarivattom (19,969 PCUs), Vyttila (17,600 PCUs), Maradu (14,424 PCUs), Edapally (15,890 PCUs), and near Aluva Metro Station Junctions (10,154 PCUs), according to the data given in the draft CMP.