Coimbatore needs more flyovers - Study

A study being conducted by a consultant for traffic improvements under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission has identified some congested roads in the city for building five flyovers.

The consultant said at a presentation on Sunday that the initial survey identified Sathyamangalam Road-Cross Cut Road Junction, Sathyamangalam Road-100 Feet Road Junction, Lakshmi Mills Junction, Mettupalayam Road-Sivananda Colony and the Kikani rail overbridges as points with heavy traffic. Flyovers could be built here at a tentative cost of Rs. 150 crore. The presentation was held to elicit views from councillors and other sections on which parts of the city needed flyover to ease congestion. The initial plan was that the flyover at the Cross-Cut Road junction would begin from the Central Bus Stand and end after the G.P. Theatre.

Councillors felt that the flyover could be longer instead of having three such structures on the Sathyamangalam Road. The flyovers were necessary as junctions that were located too close to each other proved to be points of frequent congestion. Another problem that contributed to chaos on roads was the lack of organised parking facilities. Corporation Commissioner P. Muthuveeran said multi-storeyed parking lots, including a seven-storeyed structure, were being planned.

Councillors were told that the Corporation was planning 35 years ahead, considering the rise in the number of vehicles. Former Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur Professor and transportation planning and traffic engineering consultant S.P. Palaniswamy said that on busy stretches a vehicle passed every three seconds. Such was the volume of traffic that called for investing in good infrastructure now.

The consultant said the survey so far also focussed on widening some of the roads for smooth flow of traffic. If at least 100 ft wide, these roads could have exclusive lanes for the Bus Rapid Transit System that was being planned under the mission. Wherever less wide, an elevated lane could be built for this system.

This bus system was among the mass transit systems being considered for the city to reduce the number of private vehicles on road. While these bus services were planned in the first phase of alternative transport schemes, skybus (trains on tracks above the road) might be taken up in the second phase. The aim was to bring about a modal shift - from a private mode of transport to the public. Mr. Palaniswamy explained this by pointing out that mostly only one person travelled by a car. But this vehicle occupied quite a bit of space that could have been used for other commuters. The proposed bus system could have more passengers making full use of every bit of the road meant for it.

When public transport systems were good and passenger-friendly, more people would shift to it from private vehicles. The Corporation also wanted to improve the condition of roads and footpaths. Mr. Palaniswamy pointed out that the mission gave a lot of importance to pedestrians. They should have enough and safe space to move.

At present, bad pavements forced them to clash with vehicles on thoroughfares. "There is a mix of vehicular and pedestrian traffic," he said. Mayor R. Venkatachalam and Corporation Commissioner P. Muthuveeran told councillors that these projects were aimed at making the city liveable for its citizens.

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