Flyover opened but all is not well at Edappally.

Though the newly-commissioned Edappally flyover has lessened traffic snarls, much needs to be done to ensure smooth flow of vehicles at the junction where NH 47 and NH Bypass meet NH 17.

Potholes dot both service roads of the flyover in the Palarivattom-Aluva corridor, hampering free flow of vehicles in the vicinity of traffic signal points. Sign boards too are inadequate and are missing at many crucial points, causing confusion among motorists. Traffic along the flyover and the road got affected when many shoppers took the flyover instead of the service road and took a sharp left turn to enter Lulu Mall.

The traffic police have now put up temporary barricades and posted policemen to prevent this practice.

A senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) official said that potholes at the junction and intermittent ones beyond the junction on NH 47 will be repaired shortly. “We will also install sign boards as directed by the police to guide motorists and to prevent accidents and snarls,” he said.

Yet another problem is that the NH stretch where the flyover ends in front of St.George Church has narrowed down to less than two lanes. Bus stops on either side here too have not been relocated, adding to the chaos. Buses exiting the flyover take a sharp left turn to call at the bus stop, opening a new collision point here.

The pedestrian dense area in front of the church also has a transformer protruding into the road, slowing down vehicles that take a U-turn in front of the church. There is a demand that the Public Works Department (PWD) widen the point where vehicles coming in four rows (two lanes on flyover and two lanes on the road) converge. The footpath here too is very narrow, while shrubs have grown into the existing pedestrian space, forcing people to walk through the road.

Hassles posed by haphazard parking on NH 47 too have not been redressed.

There is also a demand that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) restructure medians and the NH Bypass’ service road that meets with a dead end at the junction, in keeping with traffic density.

This would create one more lane for vehicles awaiting signal to cross over from the bypass to NH 47 and NH 17. Yet another demand is to smoothen traffic flow from NH 47 to the bypass.

THE HINDU