THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The road between Chattambiswami Park and Fort Gate will be made a part of the park. The permanent closure of the road is to ensure smooth flow of traffic in the area, the volume of which will increase after the opening of the Thakaraparambu flyover. The increase in the traffic will make the area accident prone.
TRDCL will redefine the park’s periphery as part of the City Roads Improvement Project. Technically, the path is not designated as a road, according to TRDCL officials. However, for years, vehicles have been plying on the 4m wide strip owned by the Corporation. It was has been tarred as well. Corporation has granted permission to work on the strip.
At present, traffic flows on all three sides of the park and chances high for accidents to occur at the place where traffic from two of the roads converge. The triangular circulation pattern of the vehicle flow is not advisable, they say. Though no accidents have been reported till now, the increase in traffic on the flyover will multiply the chances of a mishap.
At present, four traffic police personnel - two in each shift- have been deployed from 8 am to 8 pm to regulate the traffic. The road has been temporarily blocked as well. The road from Park to Fort has been made one-way.The closure of the road was suggested in the Detailed Project Report prepared by the Consulting Engineering Services Company in 2003. CES had worked as per a NATPAC study published a year before, which projected traffic volumes for 2014, and produced a model of traffic flow.
The officials say that the reliability of the CES model became apparent every time they tested the adequacy of various designs which are part of City Road Improvement Project.
In order to ease the traffic flow here, Kerala Road Fund Board plans to take part of the park’s south side and widen the road on the side which ferries traffic from Sreekandeswaram temple to Uppidamoodu bridge. Though the park will lose this piece of land, the total area of the park will increase.
Traffic Blues
The road between Chattambiswami Park and Fort Gate will be made a part of the park
The permanent closure of the road is to ensure smooth flow of traffic in the area
The volume of traffic will increase after the opening of the Thakaraparambu flyover
The increase in the traffic will make the area accident prone
TRDCL will redefine the park’s periphery as part of the City Roads Improvement Project
The closure of the road was suggested in the DPR prepared by the CES Company in 2003
Kerala Road Fund Board plans to widen the road that ferries traffic from Sreekandeswaram temple to Uppidamoodu bridge