Widening of the bridge at Hope College started

The doubling of the Irugur - Coimbatore railway line is in progress near the Peelamedu Hope College bridge.The long wait seems to be coming to an end for motorists driving on Avanashi Road especially near the Hope College. The Southern Railway authorities as part of their Coimbatore – Irugur railway line doubling work have begun the widening of the bridge at Hope College on Avanashi Road for accommodating four-lane traffic.

Avanashi Road happens to be a gateway for Coimbatore for vehicles coming from Erode, Salem, Bangalore and Chennai. This road also connects Tirupur attracting a large number of business visitors as well as the workforce that commute every day. In addition, the road has a number of residential colonies on the suburbs as well as the airport.With a number of educational institutions and hospitals on either side, Avanashi Road happens to be the busiest road accounting for a huge volume of traffic. The narrow bridge at Hope College proves to be a major bottle neck for the free flow of traffic especially during the school/college and office hours holding up the passengers rushing to airport.

The widening of this bridge remained elusive all along over the issue of who should bear the cost the railways or the highways department. Finally, the railway authorities agreed to share the cost for four-lanes, while the cost for two lanes would be met by the State Highways Department.To begin with, the railway authorities are constructing a span with 20 m length and 7.5 mt width. The width will accommodate two-lane road traffic while the length besides accommodating the existing track will have a provision for accommodating two more lines.After constructing the two-lane bridge, railway authorities plan to demolish the existing two-lane bridge and construct another one taking the total number of lanes to four. The width of the four lanes put together would be 15 m. The entire cost of the work by railways is estimated to be around Rs. 7 crore.

The railway is planning to complete the first phase of the work by March 2008 and commence the second bridge immediately. After both the bridges are put to use, the highways authorities will construct another two lane by the side with 7.5 m width.This will take the total number of lanes available for traffic to six providing nearly 22.5 m width with adequate pedestrian way and median space.

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