COIMBATORE: Traffic on the Palakkad NH which connects Coimbatore with Kerala moves at a snail’s pace near Madukkarai as the railway underpass at Marappalam is narrow and only one four-wheeler can pass through it at a time. Because of the bottleneck, vehicles on both sides spend at least 10 to 15 minutes to cross the spot, locals said.
Thousands of vehicles ply on the Coimbatore - Palakkad road daily. Most of them are four-wheelers and more interstate buses and goods vehicles are running. These vehicles have to cross this underpass every time they enter and exit Coimbatore city.
The underpass is situated 2 km from the Kochi - Salem NH and is the only access point to reach the road. Motorists from Coimbatore city heading towards Kerala prefer this route as it does not have any toll plazas up to the border,” said M Karthikeyan, a resident of Madukkarai.
“The underpass was built during the British period and is wide enough to allow one bus and a bike to pass through. Thus, while one vehicle enters it, others have to wait resulting in a serpentine queue,” Karthikeyan added.
“It used to be a wooden bridge, hence the name Marappalam, and was a two-lane underpass. When it was renovated, it was built as a single-lane subway. If one were to avoid the queue, they have to take a 10-km detour to enter the city and pass through the toll plaza. It will become a huge relief to commuters if the underpass is widened,” said M Abdul Hakkim, secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, who has been sending petitions to authorities on the issue.
Activists said another underpass situated close by that has not been used should be used to ease traffic flow. Sources in the Highways department said they have decided to widen the underpass with the support of railways. Superintendent of Police V Badrinarayanan said the department is working to make the route one-way by bringing another way into use. District collector Kranthi Kumar Pati assured that alternative measures are being considered besides widening the underpass.