NHAI mulls eight-lane elevated highway on Edappally-Aroor NH 66 Bypass.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is considering an eight-lane elevated highway on the Edappally-Aroor NH 66 Bypass to speed up traffic movement and to avoid inordinate wait at the four signal junctions in the corridor.

Vehicles jostle for space in the 16-km-long, accident-prone corridor which has a mix of four- and six-lane stretches. The ensuring chaotic movement of vehicles, innumerable U-turns, densely-populated residential zones, and heavily-built up commercial establishments on either side pose a safety hazard to both motorists and pedestrians.

The proposal for an elevated eight-lane highway comes shortly after the agency finalised a detailed project report (DPR) for building a 15-km elevated highway estimated to cost ₹2,200 crore on the Aroor-Thuravur NH 66 stretch. Tenders will be floated in a month for the project.

Citing the need for an elevated eight-lane highway, sources said the corridor which is the most congested NH stretch in Kerala, caters for over 90,000 vehicles a day. It will increase substantially when the Edappally-Ramanattukara (Kozhikode) NH 66 stretch is widened to six lane in another two years. The proposed Kundannur-Theni Greenfield NH and Kundannur-Angamaly NH Bypass too will take off from the Edappally-Aroor NH Bypass, bringing in additional volume of vehicles.

The expected widening of the MG Road-Pullepady-Thammanam-NH Bypass stretch into a four-lane corridor will result in more number of vehicles pouring into the stretch from the central business district.

The elevated highway is estimated to cost between ₹100 crore to ₹130 crore per kilometre. There will be four-lane elevated structures on each side, supported by a pillar each. There will also be six-lane service roads beneath, which include a two-lane corridor in between the pillars. This will in turn result in there being a total of 14 lanes (including the eight-lane elevated NH) on the NH Bypass.

Engineering solutions will be readied to integrate the elevated NH with the four flyovers on the stretch, it is learnt.

THE HINDU