Revised DPR for elevated highway on Edappally-Aroor bypass not yet ready

The elevated highway is expected to either merge with or run parallel to existing flyovers at Palarivattom, Vyttila, and Kundannoor.
| Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT

The revised detailed project report (DPR) for the proposed elevated highway to decongest the 17-km Edappally-Aroor NH 66 bypass, which was to be submitted by a Bhopal-based firm to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in May, is yet to be finalised.

This is attributed to a decision awaited on the elevated highway’s alignment near the three flyovers in the corridor, especially at Palarivattom Bypass Junction, where the Kochi metro’s Kakkanad extension is slated to hover perpendicularly over the four-lane flyover, it is learnt.

According to the plan, the elevated highway was to either merge with, or go parallel to the Palarivattom, Vyttila and Kundannoor flyovers. Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) had submitted pertinent details of the proposed viaduct at Palarivattom Bypass Junction to the NHAI to ensure that the alignments of both projects, which would criss-cross at the junction, do not clash.

Clover leaf flyover

The NHAI is also awaiting a decision on whether to have a trumpet flyover that had been planned, or a more sprawling clover-leaf flyover at Nettoor. Located immediately south of Kundannoor Junction on the bypass, Nettoor is set to be the converging point of three NH corridors. The proposed Kundannoor-Angamaly NH 544 Bypass (Kochi Bypass) and the Kochi Port Connectivity NH (to establish seamless connectivity from NH bypass to the Kochi Port) are set to take off from Nettoor, a busy locale on the bypass, sources said.