COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore city police have installed a height barrier in front of the Lanka Corner underpass to prevent heavy vehicles from entering it which could damage the structure and cause traffic issues. Work is underway to install height barriers in front of all subways.
“At a few places in the city, railway underpasses and elevated subways have raised barriers but in most places, they don’t. To avoid accidents and traffic congestion due to this, we are installing height barriers at the entrance of every subway and underpass.
Thousands of vehicles pass through the Lanka Corner Railway underpass which connects Big Bazaar Street Trichy Road and State Bank Road. Due to the lack of height barrier, obstruction is caused by heavy vehicles often. Hence we have installed a height barrier and steps have been taken to set up the same structure at the remaining places as well,” said S Ashok Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Coimbatore city.
In September, TNIE carried news explaining the need for height barriers for the underpasses at the Avinashi Road flyover and immediately police installed an iron barrier on October 1 and planned to expand this for all the underpasses and subways. However, the barrier was knocked down by an unidentified vehicle within a week.
“We have designed these barriers as best as we can. However, no matter how strong a height barrier we set up, it cannot be as strong as the barriers set up by the Railways and Highways departments. Many places in the city where these structures are needed come under the Railway and Highways departments. So it will be better if they could take up this work,” said a senior police officer.
