Considering the heavy traffic congestion that Vyttila will witness
once the entire transport activities of the City get shifted to the
Mobilty Hub, the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) has decided
to speed up the work for widening the Chilavannoor Bund Road.

As per the GCDA’s plan, the road that stretches parallel to Sahodaran Ayyappan Road will be widened to 15 metres.

Opening
an easy access to Thevara, the road will begin near Thykkoodam bridge
at NH Bypass near Vyttila junction. It will pass through Chilavannoor
and Panampilly Nagar and end at Pandit Karuppan Road.

The width of
the road on the stretch may be restricted to 8 metre in some areas
owing to the huge amount of money needed for land acquisition. It is
learnt that the GCDA authorities had already reached a consensus with
some of the land owners on acquisition of land and rehabilitation.

The
rehabilitation process will not be a major hurdle for the GCDA as it
owns a considerable volume of land. However, it needs the government
sanction for acquiring land.

The GCDA is expected to start the acquisition process once the project gets the administrative nod.However, experts are of the opinion that a detailed study should be conducted for the development of Vyttila Junction.

Apart
from the elevated highway proposed on the Kundannoor-Edappally stretch,
they point out the need for a cloverleaf or flyover. “If both are not
possible at the junction owing to space limitations, then an underpass
should be constructed at Vyttila. The underpass can have one wider outer
circular pedestrian path and one inner circular way. The two circular
paths should be connected with the entrance of all shops. When a person
enters the subway through one entrance using steps or escalator, he can
go to all other roads and also to the bus terminal,” they say.

Earlier,
the Kochi Corporation too had mooted a project for the development of
four major junctions in the city, including Vyttila and Palarivattam.
However, that project failed to have takeoff.