The end’s near

Jisha Surya
First Published : 22 Apr 2010

Wait for a month. Then you’ll be above the road, but not in the sky.
 Gifting city dwellers the experience of a cool ride on a 5.5-m-high road, the Bakery Junction flyover will be opened for traffic by May-end. The Trivandrum Road Development Company Limited (TRDCL), which is undertaking the work under the City Road Improvement Project (CRIP), has started the countdown of its prestigious project, the first of its kind in the State.
 Work of one more span of the flyover, that connects Panavila to Panchapura, is yet to be completed. The three-lane bi-directional road has a total width of 12 m, including two cross barriers, each of 0.5 m  width. The TRDCL authorities are expecting to complete the concrete work by May 15 and are planning to open the flyover for the public by May 31. There are 13 beams in the 520-m flyover.
 Unlike other flyovers in the State, which act as bridges over roads or railway tracks, the Bakery Junction flyover is a full-length grade separator. A grade separator is any structure which separates the uniform grade of running highways into different grades. Service roads are also getting ready along with the flyover.
 The flyover is being constructed in a special box-type structure, which uses less concrete and offers more strength. Pre-stressed concrete, which is more efficient than ordinary concrete in withstanding tension, is another specialty of the flyover construction.
 The flyover is a part of the inner ring road, connecting Bakery Junction, Thampanoor, Overbridge, Uppidamoodu, Vanchiyoor, Pattoor, General Hospital and Palayam Junction. According to the report by N.S. Sreenivasan in 2002, the inner ring road will offer an uninterrupted flow of heavy volume of traffic in major parts of the city.
 TRDCL vice-president Anil Kumar Pandala said the flyover can ease the traffic congestion in the city to a considerable level. ‘‘With the completion of the flyover, people can smoothly reach Airport or NH from Thampanoor even if there is a procession or demonstration at Palayam or Secretariat,’’ he said.
 The TRDCL faced numerous hurdles during the construction of the flyover. The work, which began in March 2005, was originally planned to be completed by March 2006. However, a number of issues, from land acquisition to non-availability of quality labourers, acted as roadblocks to the work. After a long break, construction was again taken up in April 2009.
 After a tremor hit the city in November 2009, the TRDCL authorities took the initiative to recheck the work with the help of two private agencies and made the necessary changes. ‘‘Though it brought out a two-month delay in the work, we are satisfied with the whole effort,’’ Pandala said. He added that he had spent days to get sanctions for traffic diversions, which also caused much delay.
jisha@expressbuzz.com