THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The newly-inaugurated Pravachambalam-Kodinada stretch of national highway road has been winning praises for its special features which make the stretch safer not just for motorists but also for pedestrians and disabled.
The highlight of the stretch is the footpath with tactile tiles that helps navigation easy for blinds. The middle row of tiles on the 1.5-metre-wide footpath is paved with tactile tiles with textured surface.
There are tiles with two types of textures — those with straight lines and those with dotted surfaces. The straight line tiles indicate that it is safe to proceed and the dotted surface tiles indicate that there is obstructions such as pedestrian crossing, signal junction or bus bay ahead.
Speaking to TOI, Sreenath P J, assistant engineer of national highway division of PWD, said the stretch has been completed as a model road, following the guidelines set by Indian Road Congress (IRC), which is the apex body of highway engineers in the country.
“The footpaths are wheelchair-friendly too,” Sreenath said adding that ramps have been constructed at every 10 metres to facilitate the entry and exit of wheelchairs from the footpath. The footpaths are also fitted with handrails for safety.
Special focus has been given to prevent accidents during night owing to poor visibility. For this, solar-powered streetlights have been installed along the median. High- mast lights are also installed at four signal junctions — Pravachambalam, Pallichal, Vedivachan Kovil and Madavooppara.
Reflective road studs, median markers, delineators and thermoplastic road markings are the other safety features of this stretch. The total stretch has a width of 10.5 metres on either side.
Pravachambalam-Kodinada stretch is a 4.5km stretch that starts at Pravachambalam in the city corporation limits and ends at Kodinada near Balaramapuram. It is the second reach of Karamana-Kaliyikkavila highway road. The works of the first reach from Karamana to Pravachambalam was completed during the tenure of UDF government in March 2016. The construction works of the second reach commenced in January 2019. The stretch was inaugurated by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday.