Traffic on Civil Line Road that links Ernakulam with Kakkanad will be diverted through a pair of U-turns on either side of the Palarivattom flyover from Sunday morning, as part of safety measures being introduced while reconstructing the damaged parts of the structure.
Simultaneously, the area beneath the flyover’s central span, which was being used by vehicles will be closed using barricades. This is to ensure safety of motorists when the deck, girders, and pier caps of the structure are dismantled and rebuilt, the traffic police said.
Vehicles from the city proceeding to Kakkanad will have to turn left from the Palarivattom NH Bypass Junction and take the first U-turn to cross the junction. Similarly, vehicles from Kakkanad proceeding to the city must turn left from the junction and use the first U-turn to proceed further, the traffic police said in a press release.
Aimed at avoiding congestion at Palarivattom, light vehicles coming to the city from Kalamassery could avoid the junction by opting for the Seaport-Airport Road-Eachamukku-Palachuvadu-Vennala-Puthiya Road-NH Bypass stretch.
Vehicles from Edappally can use the Edappally-Thripunithura Road, which runs parallel to the NH Bypass, to reach their destinations, the police said.
They added that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and the Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society (ULCCS), the stakeholders engaged in reconstructing the flyover, would have to repair potholes on alternative roads used by motorists, in case the PWD and the Kochi Corporation did not repair them. This will be crucial, since several portions of Puthiya Road are pothole-ridden. A major bottleneck on Seaport-Airport Road-Vennala stretch will be Vennala Junction, which is even otherwise bottlenecked due to extremely narrow bellmouths on its northern and southern sides.
Residents associations and others have been demanding a total ban on parking in the vicinity of the flyover and on service roads of the NH Bypass nearby, to ensure safe and streamlined flow of vehicles when the flyover is rebuilt.
More portions will be barricaded and tall nets erected when concrete cutting extends to more areas atop the flyover, to safeguard against debris and dust falling on motorists and pedestrians. Water, used while cutting, too may fall on them if barricades are not in place, officials said.