The Vision 2030 seminar organised by GCDA for the last
two days deliberated on 20-odd development projects aimed at converting
Kochi to a global city, but one issue that could be of immediate impact
to the condition of the city was on traffic and transport problems.

N.S.
Srinivasan, former advisor to the State government in Transport and
Transportation, in his presentation on the subject identified 16
corridors covering a total distance of about 65 km for improvement. This
included main roads like Kaloor-Kadavanthra Road, Sahodaran Ayyappan
Road, Goshree North end-Pachalam-Mamangalam-Pottakuzhy, Padma
intersection, Banerji Road to Edappally, Vytilla-Tripunithura Road up to
SN Junction and Thevara Foreshore Road from Venduruthy Bridge to New
Thevara Bridge.

Out of the total road network of
1,665 km, major roads come to about 499 km and 80 per cent of the roads
are less than two-lane wide, with limited right of way, he said. This,
along with, substandard geometrics and poor riding quality and
increasing volume of traffic, affects the free flow along the roads.

One
of the key suggestions made by Mr. Srinivasan was widening of these 16
corridors, besides pitching for long-standing demands of flyovers at
Vytilla, Edappally and Palarivattom intersections as well as railway
overbridge at Mullassery Canal Road, Pachalam and Atlantis Junction.

At
present, efforts are being made to introduce restrictive measures like
parking control, one-way streets and entry control to improve the
traffic situation, while the capacity of these roads remains the same.
The problem with the present approach is it would not give a lasting
solution to the perennial issue, he said.

One lasting
solution could be dividing the city into different planning zones for
effective management of crowd movement and checking further
densification of the core city area. This is also a key aspect to be
focussed on during the formation of the Metropolitan Authority, it was
pointed out.

Another paper presented at the seminar
was on the electrified suburban rail transport to cater to the demands
of Kochi metropolis, by C. Raju, former general manager of Urban
Transport, RITES and advisor to Konkan Railway. The concept is to link
up the city to suburban towns. He identified the bottleneck section in
the present railway line as the Shorunur-Thrissur section, where the
traffic from Chennai/Bangalore and northern part of India from Konkan
route merges.

The solution to this issue was
quadrubling the section, but high cost involved in land acquisition
makes it near impossible, he said. Another suggestion he made along with
this was that of MEMU services in the Guruvayur-Thrissur-Kerala High
Court junction. This can be introduced with three trains in the peak
morning and evening hours, he said.