Kollam: More than a decade after the foundation stone was laid, the Railway Overbridge at the Commissioner Office junction here will finally be open to the public on January 20. However, proper traffic maneuvering systems including a junction and signaling systems that ensure safety are yet to be put in place.
The spot at which the overbridge meets with the National Highway requires a traffic circle, directing vehicles from the SN College junction towards Chinnakkada and a U-turn facility for the vehicles that come out from the overbridge and go towards Chinnakkada.
“In order to set up a permanent traffic controlling system, the average flow of traffic through the area should be calculated. The Traffic Police is in charge of the signaling system and they are still to conduct a study on this.
Meanwhile, a temporary arrangement for a median will be implemented before the dividers are planned based on the flow of traffic,” said D N Rajeev, Executive Engineer, PWD.
A traffic signaling system is planned near the C Ashokan Town Hall, taking into account the traffic coming from SN College and Thiruvananthapuram side.
But for the time being, the Traffic Police have planned to control the vehicles manually, in view of the huge rush of pedestrians during office times.
The PWD has acquired around 42 cents from the Corporation to construct a junction and the approach road and around 71 cents of land for the construction of a road connecting the overbridge and the four land road to the Kollam Port, at Kochuplamoodu junction.
However, the ‘aam aadmi’ of Kollam are of the opinion that the “urgency” to inaugurate an overbridge before the completion of its associated works are a “a vote capturing technique” by the Government because the elections are nearing.
