NH Bypass at Vyttila to be widened to ease traffic snarls

Faced with acute traffic snarls at Vyttila Junction and roads leading to it, the PWD (NH wing) is set to raise part of the service roads to the level of the NH Bypass to hew out more space for vehicles.

This comes in the wake of the worsening traffic snarls at the junction which has been barricaded for flyover and metro rail works. The PWD has been receiving much flak for not doing preparatory works like making optimal use of the service roads to divert vehicles, prior to beginning piling for the flyover. This has resulted in a few lakh vehicles, including ambulances, getting stranded for long durations.

“With NHAI doing little to develop vacant space on service roads and to build a wider underpass, we have been compelled to raise service roads that run parallel to the proposed flyover. This will enable smoother movement of vehicles when more space is barricaded at the junction’s northern side to commence piling,” said PWD sources.

The work on building a retaining wall to raise service roads will begin in a day or two. The NHAI has consented to the PWD raising the service roads on the northern and southern sides to make optimal use of space at Vyttila, they said. Still, the PWD has not initiated measures to construct a wide underpass beneath the Vyttila rail overbridge. This would have considerably lessened traffic congestion at the junction since vehicles in the east-west direction could cross the junction without affecting traffic along the NH Bypass. To and fro movement of heavy vehicles is impossible through the existing narrow underpass.

Though space for an underpass is available near the railway track, this has so far not been included in the scope of work to streamline vehicle flow. “We intend to give a proposal to include this too in the detailed project report for the second phase development work of the junction. A five-member committee headed by the PWD Secretary is vetting proposals to decongest the junction,” sources said.