Thiruvananthapuram's Kazhakoottam Junction: Where jam is the norm

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The time is 9 am. Kazhakoottam Junction on the National Highway 66. A KSRTC bus coming from the Sreekaryam side and a car from the Technopark side of the NH were stuck head-on at the busy junction.

Within minutes, a colossal traffic jam ensued along three stretches at the four-way intersection. Traffic was possible only on one lane, the western stretch towards Kollam.

Buses, school vans, trucks and cars remained bumper-to-bumper for about 20 minutes after which two civil police officers managed to restore normal traffic.

"Almost every day, for one reason or another, we face this plight," says Akhil, who works at the DHC.
"Technopark employees like me are the worst-hit by the traffic snarls at the junction," he added. 

Sudha V, another Technopark employee, said he spends an average of an hour on the road, which should ideally be a 20-minute ride, if there were no traffic issues. A sizeable population of the 56,000 people working in Technopark, one of the largest IT parks in the country, have to pass through the Kazhakoottam Junction to reach their offices.

Vishnu, who works at the ICICI branch at Kazhakoottam, said the situation was even worse at peak hours, particularly on Mondays and Fridays. He is optimistic the proposed flyover would resolve the issue.

The flyover project, first proposed during the previous government's tenure, continues to remain on paper. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has reportedly finalised a revised alignment for the project. In the revised alignment, NHAI officials said, the flyover will start in front of the police station and end in front of the phase-III of the IT park. NHAI is preparing to float tenders for the project shortly.