THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The proposed flyover at Venjaramoodu, aimed at decongesting traffic on the stretch, is set to be redesigned with the state government proposing the widening of MC Road. The redesign will be done in a way that ensures the new flyover is incorporated with MC Road, which will be developed as a four-lane road.
The Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB), the executing agency of the project, said their design wing will submit the drawing of the new design within two weeks. Once it is approved, KRFB will go ahead with further proceedings, including the Letter of Acceptance (LoA) from the contractor to issue the work order.
The cabinet approved the tender to build the two-lane flyover in April. It will be 446m long and have a 3m-wide service road on either side. The contract was awarded to Ray Construction Ltd. KRFB finalised the tender after floating it four times. In the final tender process, the board selected the contractor as the lowest bidder with Rs 26.71 crore. The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) is the funding agency.
A top official with KRFB’s Project Management Unit said the work can be started only after three months as the project necessitated a new design due to the proposal to widen MC Road to four lanes. “The cabinet nod came in April. However, the Public Works Department has proposed to widen the existing MC Road into a four-lane highway. So we need to come up with a fresh design so that the flyover’s dimension can be matched with the widened MC Road.
The process is on. The design team will submit the new rendering in two weeks. Once the tender is approved, the work order will be issued. We have already stated preliminary work, but it will be they visible only after piling starts. It will take another three months to start the work officially, considering the monsoon too,” said the KRFB official.
The official also pointed out that the pre-feasibility study for widening the MC Road is on and will be completed in a few months. The proposal is to convert MC Road from Kesavadasapuram to Angamaly into a four-lane road. Similarly, the state government and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) proposed a new greenfield highway parallel to MC Road. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change has already green-lit the project.
Unlike other flyover projects, the Venjaramoodu flyover does not require land acquisition and will be built on the existing road. The expected deadline is 16 months.
The flyover is proposed between the congested stretch near the mosque and Leela Ravi Hospital. Once operational, it will considerably cut the travel time of commuters from Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, and Idukki. The government had planned a bypass road earlier, but the idea was dropped citing technical reasons. The proposal for a ring road at Venjaramoodu was also dropped owing to stiff opposition from residents over land acquisition. The flyover at Venjaramoodu was mooted in 2018.
Project overview
The cabinet approved the tender to build the two-lane flyover in April
However, the Public Works Department proposed to widen the existing MC Road into a four-lane highway
The redesign will ensure that the new flyover is incorporated with MC Road