Kochi | Roads, Bridges, Flyovers & Highways

[vu3nnn]

“We cannot simply theorise everything on paper without doing a trial run.

Where is the question of theorising when when it is obvious to even a 5 year old as to what is in store......... its a bit like saying "we cannot simply theorize that the sun will rise from the east every day"..... surprising to see that administrators supposed to be in charge of the city cannot understand what is obvious to anyone who is familiar with the city.....

now with ample publicity for this one-day trial, many people may simply avoid coming to the city on this day (just as they shrug off a harthal day)... so the trial may serve no purpose.

If the public has been travelling through the bad roads for so many months, I think a one-day trial run is not going to affect them much,” he said.

well.... in that case, the diversion should also apply to all VIP, and bureaucrat vehicles


in my opinion forced diversion will not work. Allow all vehicles to use the remaining portion of the bridge... divert KSRTC and long distance busses via Container Road..... and whichever LMV wants to avoid the chaos will willingly use the Pulleppady ROB / Container Road

[Malayaali]

Traffic diversion trial passes off smoothly

The trial traffic diversion, a precursor to the dismantling of the North railway overbridge (RoB) to facilitate the proposed Kochi Metro, passed of smoothly on Thursday night.

The traffic police had made Kaloor and Kacheripady the two main points from where traffic would be diverted. They diverted all vehicles except buses entering the city from Kaloor and Kacheripady during the two-hour-long exercise from 8 pm to 10 pm.

All other vehicles, including two-wheelers coming into the city from Edappally were diverted via the Kaloor-Kathrikadavu road. The officials propose to hold another day-long trial run on Saturday.

Since it was already night and the roads were not busy, a realistic assessment of the traffic diversion could not be made, according to traffic police officials. Rain did play spoilsport creating congestion for two-wheeler riders who were forced to take a detour during the downpour.

“Everything was fine despite the rain when the trial started. There was some confusion initially, but vehicle drivers cooperated which led to the success of the trial run,” said traffic deputy commissioner Gopalakrishna Pillai.

DC Kochi

[Malayaali]

Alternative roads get a facelift

With the count-down having begun for the trial traffic diversion in preparation for the North Railway Overbridge (ROB) re-construction, the authorities concerned are running helter-skelter to finish the patchwork and tarring of some of the major roads in the city.
According to the plan, only heavy vehicles will ply through the North ROB and the light vehicles will be diverted through other roads, especially those running parallel to the Banerjee Road and those around the north ROB. Considering the humongous traffic flow expected (more so, owing to Ramzan and Onam), the rate at which road repair is taking place is alarmingly slow.
However, the official dilemma is such that, after declaring the trial run to last for a week, the word now is that traffic regulations will be enforced on Thursday night and Saturday.
The Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala Limited (RBDCK) has begun the repair work on the Thammanam-Pulleppady road. “Pothole-filling has been completed in the 600 metre stretch from the Pulleppady ROB till the Chittoor road, including the C P Ummer road. Owing to the heavy rain on Tuesday, work was disrupted on Wednesday. Anyhow, we expect the work to be finished within this week,” said M Beena, Managing Director of RBDCK. Meanwhile, the Kochi Corporation commenced the tarring work on Chittoor Road the other day but has been held up because of overnight rain. “The entire stretch from Valanjambalam to Vaduthala will be repaired. But the work is being disrupted by the frequent rain. We have begun the work from Valanjambalam and have laid metal till SRV High School. If the weather is favourable, we will finish the work soon,” said Soumini Jain, the chairperson of the corporation’s Works Standing Committee.

IBN Live

[mohammedirshad06]

Amidst protests from the Merchants Union and the Kochi Corporation, the traffic diversion trial run conducted by the district administration on Thursday night went smoothly. The trial run, which began at 8 p.m, lasted for two hours.

“The trial run took place as expected. However, we are expecting the complete impact of the diversion on Saturday, when the main diversion will take place.” said CI Babu Raj. The trail run of Saturday will begin at 8 a.m and end at 10 p.m.

The Merchants Union had earlier expressed their displeasure over the decision to conduct a trial run before Onam season as it would affect their sales.
The Corporation had told Express that it disapproved with the trial run, especially since the construction of the roads has not been completed.

“At a time like this such a trial run is not feasible,” Mayor Tony Chammany said, adding that the traffic congestion would be higher as it was Onam.
He added that that he had brought this to the notice of the Chief Minister. During the traffic regulation, all the vehicles, expect the heavy ones which were allowed to ply through the North over bridge, were diverted.

The traffic from the MGBanerjee roads is being regulated through Kacheripaddy- Pachalam railway crossing and finally to the SRM road. The route diverted for the East- West traffic was Kathrikadavu- Pullepady- Chittoor and finally to MG Road.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/traffic-d...70-60-122.html

[mohammedirshad06]

Kochi Collector informed that all alternate roads of the city, will be taken over by RBCK for repair and maintenance, before demolition of North ROB. It was informed by Collector to Kerala High Court, after the court expressed its displeasure in current traffic rerouting in the city.

[Malayaali]

Finally, demolition of North ROB to begin on Sept 15

Demolition of the Ernakulam North railway overbridge as part of the preparatory works for the Kochi metro rail project will begin on September 15. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the implementing agency for the project, has already prepared an outline for the demolition process.

The decision was made at a review meeting of officials of the Kochi Metro Rail Limited, DMRC and district administration.

According to the plan, the two side bridges would be demolished initially, followed by the main bridge. Light vehicles will not be allowed to pass through the main bridge while the demolition of the side bridges will be carried out. However, private and KSRTC buses will be allowed to pass through the bridge. The demolition works will be carried out by Cherian Varkey Construction Company.

It has been decided to repair alternate roads identified for diverting traffic by September 12. As part of the traffic arrangements to be introduced, the Kochi Metro will sponsor 50 traffic wardens. Apart from this, all long distance buses plying through the city will be asked to enter the Vytilla Mobility Hub from September 5.

Feeder buses will be introduced to transport people to the city from the hub.

Out of the 250 buses, that the KSRTC plans to introduce in Ernakulam, 50 will be feeder buses.

The review meeting was attended by Kochi Metro Rail Limited managing director Tom Jose, DMRC project director Sriram, district collector P I Shaik Pareeth, regional transport officer T J Thomas and city police commissioner M R Ajith Kumar.

TOI

[mohammedirshad06]

Choodi-Pokattupady Road is planned to construct soon. Already estimate for the proposed road is considered, which is reported to be Rs 98 Lakh worth project. The 4 Km road from Choodi to Pokkattupady will connect to Aluva via Pallikara and Third Mile.

The road is planned to build as per NHAI specifications, equivalent to NH standards.

http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bi...=&villageName=

[DileepKS]

MI, it doesn't connect Pallikara. Pallikara is further up on the road.

[mohammedirshad06]

NABAD sanctioned Rs 13 crore for Kumbalam-Nettoor bridge, said PWD Minister Ibrahimkunju.

The PWD is planning to construct several inter-island bridges in Kochi, for increased connectivity and reduction of congestion in main roads. Some of the main islands for which investigative tenders will be issued soon;

1. Nettoor-Kundanoor alternative bridge

2. Valanthakadu-Maradu bridge

3. Kannankad-Edakochi-Willingdon island bridge

[vu3nnn]

Kannankad-Edakochi-Willingdon island bridge is long overdue and will serve many uses. It will offer the shortest route from Arur to Ernakulam, and also serve as a viable parallel road to the bye pass between Kundanoor and Arur; and will help decongest the bye pass / Vytilla Jn considerably.

Together with this, the Pandit Karuppan Road should also be widened, or failing that a new Marine Drive from Thevara Jn to the Kundanoor-Island bridge.

[Malayaali]

Strengthening of Thevara bridge to begin next week

The strengthening of the Thevara Market Bridge, one of the oldest bridges in the city, will begin next week.

The handrails of the bridge, which connects the Venduruthy Bridge and the road that leads to West Kochi, had been damaged. Sand bags were packed at the base of the bridge for protecting the ageing structure. The residents and traders in the area had long been demanding the repair of the bridge, which is one of the oldest structures in the city.

The Kochi Corporation, with the support of the Cochin Shipyard, would strengthen the bridge and the work was expected to start on Tuesday, said Soumini Jain, chairperson, Works Standing Committee of the Corporation.

It would require around Rs.18 lakh for strengthening the nearly 100-m bridge. The Shipyard has offered Rs.10 lakh and the Kochi Corporation will provide the rest of the funds for completing the work.

Contractors reluctant

Though the contractors were reluctant to take up the work citing the possible delay in getting the bills cleared by the Corporation, the civic body succeeded in bringing in a contractor to take up the project, said Ms. Jain.

The fund released by the shipyard would be given to the contractor immediately on completion of the work. However, the fund pooled in by the civic body would be released only on seniority basis and it might take at least one year for the fund to be released.

The contractor identified by the corporation had agreed to the conditions, Ms. Jain said. The Corporation had not considered the option of constructing a new bridge in the area at this stage as it would require detailed studies before initiating such a decision. Under the present scheme, the existing structure would be strengthened and the handrails reconstructed. The option of replacing the existing one with a new structure could be considered at a later stage, she said.

The Kochi Mayor has asked the Kerala Water Authority to carryout the restoration work of the Pandit Karuppan road, which was cut open for laying water supply pipelines. The road was dug up for laying pipelines immediately after the Corporation carried out the repair works. KWA has been asked to carryout the restoration work within two weeks.

The directive of the civic administrators was communicated to the representatives of the residents' association and traders of the area at a meeting held on Sunday.

The Hindu

[Malayaali]

SP-AP Road - Special Land Acquisition Unit to be formed


cc: Manorama

[mohammedirshad06]

Finally the govt is making its realization. Welcome CCRIP.....

With the aim of giving a new look to Kochi roads, the Kerala road fund board (KRFB) has submitted a proposal to the state government to acquire land for road development. The Cochin city road improvement project (CCRIP) promoted by KRFB will undertake the development of 11 roads in the city.

Talking to TOI on the CCRIP project, minister for public works department, V K Ibrahimkunju said the primary focus was on acquiring land. "The previous government had issued an order freezing land acquisitions. This order has not yet been revoked because of the absence of a rehabilitation and resettlement project," he said.

For the project, KRFB will have to acquire 30 acres of land and demolish 39,741 square meters of built-up space. The initial filed verification for the project is over and the project proposal is now before the department of revenue.

"KRFB will have to do a complete study on underground and over ground utilities like pipelines and cables that pass through these routes. It will be difficult to carry out the work if there are pipelines carrying crude oil and gas underneath," said chief operating officer, KRFB, PC Harikesh.

He also said there would be provisions for drains and ducts for laying cables. "We are not sure we will be able to provide these facilities on all the roads that we have undertaken to develop. It will depend on the area available," he added.

Harikesh said that the real work on the roads would be a slow process and most of it would be done at night. "We don't want to block traffic or close roads."

The minister meanwhile said there would be a meeting on September 14 to look into this issue and also push forward the CCRIP project. "It is the responsibility of the Kochi corporation to repair and maintain city roads. The PWD will focus on roads managed by it," said Ibrahimkunju.

Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) is a professional body set up to take up fund management of the Kerala state public works department. KRFB's main focus is on managing non-budgetary funds and allocating such funds to implement innovative roads and other related infrastructure in the state.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiati...-kochi-project

[DileepKS]

Given the results of the city road improvement programme elsewhere, I really look forward to the CCRIP. It is long overdue that the commercial capital got its share of development.

[mohammedirshad06]

Originally Posted by DileepKS

Given the results of the city road improvement programme elsewhere, I really look forward to the CCRIP. It is long overdue that the commercial capital got its share of development.

The city urgently requires a make-over, considering the fact more than 50% of Kerala's revenues are generated from Ernakulam district. I am not taking any Shiva-Sena stance, that Money generated from Ernakulam, must be used only here....

But atleast, we should we our due. I won't blame full on politicians. Our own business lobbies played their part in halting many projects. Even CCIP will face serious issues in future, considering the level of acquisitions and demolishing of buildings.

In past, only experience of implementing the project was limited in our capital city But the nature of units that faced axed was different. Thats definitely not the case in Kochi, where axe will have to touch some of the big names of the business world.

In addition, always vested interests play their part well, to halt any such major projects. Just see, now Technical committee says only 20mm tarring is pratical for Kochi roads and Cochin Corporation saying, they have no choice, but to implement the council's decision, knowing well that it will last only another 3 months.... How come technical committee over-rule even PWD minister's stance for 40mm tarring?

Its possible, because for most of contractors, roads are prime regular income and they will not let any road to go best forever.

As I used to say, Kochi's good and bad is always attributed to its business lobby and business interests.... We may have some of the best malls, some of the most luxury cars, most posh hotels, marina or things like that.... But to enjoy it, we all have to be in mercy of these business lobbies money making scandals like roads, traffic congestion and things like that......

[DileepKS]

You hit the nail on the head MI. Business interests is both the boon and bane for our city. It will continue to be so, as long as we are the economic powerhouse of the state, which would be, till global warming eats up the city.

A smart politician could easily channel and manipulate the energies, but unfortunately, we don't have one yet. One who could make a 'business deal' that 'they couldn't refuse' between the polity and the business lobbies. Till now, we haven't seen anyone.

[sanjupalayat]

Originally Posted by DileepKS

You hit the nail on the head MI. Business interests is both the boon and bane for our city. It will continue to be so, as long as we are the economic powerhouse of the state, which would be, till global warming eats up the city.

A smart politician could easily channel and manipulate the energies, but unfortunately, we don't have one yet. One who could make a 'business deal' that 'they couldn't refuse' between the polity and the business lobbies. Till now, we haven't seen anyone.

Dileepetta, mukalil paranja aale marketil vangan kittumo?

Formation of CCRIP is definetly a good move...

[mohammedirshad06]

The road safety committee headed by chief secretary Mr P. Prabhakaran gave approval for the proposed Vytilla Skywalk for pedestrians at the busy Vyttila junction.

District Collector Mr P.I.Sheikh Pareeth said that Rs 6 crore would be utilized for the project from the Rs 19-crore fund allotted for road safety in the state.

The project is the brainchild of Mr Pareeth who wanted to ease the difficulty experienced by pedestrians in crossing the road at the junction. The skywalk with a steel frame will be 10 metres wide and 50 metres long.

It will have facilities like a shopping mall, ATM counters, security boxes, public toilets and a hotel. A picturesque view of the sky is an added attraction.

Mr Pareeth said that detailed discussions will be held with the NH authorities as the Kochi Metro Rail would also pass through the junction.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chann...-panel-nod-756

Kochi will soon have its skywalk if things go according to plan. With the state road safety council giving a green signal for the project, pedestrians can breathe a sigh of relief.

District collector PI Sheik Pareeth said "The road safety council chaired by chief secretary, P Prabhakaran has given the in-principle approval for the project." Ernakulam district will get Rs 6 crore for this project from the Rs 19 crore allotted for road safety, he added.

The project will be carried out in consultation with the national highway authority of India (NHAI) as there are plans to construct a flyover. The road safety committee will hold discussions with NHAI in this regard. "We need NHAI's approval," he said.

The project is the brainchild of Sheik Pareeth, who is also an engineer. He came up with this concept to ease pedestrian difficulty in crossing roads at the junction. The steel frame skywalk will be 10 metre wide and 50 metre long.

The skywalk will house facilities like shopping mall, hotel, ATM, security box and public toilets. A picturesque view of the sky is the added attraction. The project also includes an escalator, which will be of help during peak hours. The sky walk will have aluminium flooring. The project will be completed within three months.

Explaining the project the district collector said, "In India we have a skywalk in Mumbai. We will stick to international standards while building our skywalk." Following the collector's instruction, Ashok Kumar, an engineer from Ashok Associates in Thiruvananthapuram designed the project.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...ow/9878856.cms

I wonder how come a hotel function inside a skywalk, measuring just 10 meters wide? In Delhi Airport, we have transit hotel rooms, where each room is set in the 15m wide Airside corridor, in form of a 4 meters wide boxes... But thats airport... There can't be similar structures in a pedestrian crossing!!!

[Malayaali]

Originally Posted by mohammedirshad06

I wonder how come a hotel function inside a skywalk, measuring just 10 meters wide? In Delhi Airport, we have transit hotel rooms, where each room is set in the 15m wide Airside corridor, in form of a 4 meters wide boxes... But thats airport... There can't be similar structures in a pedestrian crossing!!!

That will be more of a road side cafeteria with few seating options. 10m is more than enough for such facilities.

[DileepKS]

You need shops all around. Occupied ones. Otherwise the skywalk will have the same fate of the foot overbridge built at Kacheripady. Neurotics, Beggars and 'solicitors of services' will camp on the skywalk, and make its use by regular folk impossible.

Honestly, I don't think it is a good idea. What we need is a proper interchange there.