Kerala clears Thammanam-Pullepady four-lane road project

Kerala Government has aimed at augmenting the east-west road connectivity by building the narrow Thammanam-Pullepady stretch as a four-lane road and to extend it on either side towards MG Road and NH bypass. The road would be 22-metre wide. A median, footpaths on either side and a duct to carry utility cables and pipelines are part of the project. The existing alignment will be altered wherever needed, while junctions will be widened as per KIIFB norms enabling free-left turns. PWD has already completed the survey, which has been submitted to the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) for making fund arrangements. Currently, only two small stretches in the Katrikadavu-Karanakodam have four lanes. A critical part of the survey includes soil testing at multiple points to widen and rebuild narrow bridges and culverts on the 4-km corridor which will link Padma Junction on MG Road with Chakkaraparambu on Palarivattom-Vyttila NH bypass. The KIIFB has already promised the funding to implement the project that would decongest SA and Banerjee Roads. The construction of the four-lane road is also included in the construction of a parallel two-lane bridge at Pullepady and the entire project is expected to be completed by 2023.