Kochi Bypass project gets a fillip with Central nod

The long-overdue Kochi Bypass task has got a fillip, with the Centre sanctioning a 50-km-long, eight-lane-wide greenfield corridor linking Aroor connected NH 66 with Angamaly connected NH 544.

This would alteration inter-district and different vehicles to debar the congested and accident-prone Aroor-Edapally NH 66 Bypass, the Edapally-Angamaly NH 544 stretch, and the much than a twelve bottlenecked junctions on the route, redeeming sizeable clip and fuel.

The Kochi Bypass had been mooted a decennary agone arsenic a 44-km-long, six-lane-wide corridor linking Nettoor connected the NH 66 Bypass with Karayamparambu, located northbound of Angamaly. The task remained mired successful uncertainty pursuing the expiry of its 3A notification successful 2024.

“A caller 3A notification for the projected eight-lane-wide NH task would beryllium issued shortly. The Centre has permitted the acquisition of onshore astatine a width of 70 metres (as compared to the earlier 45-metre-wide NH proposal). This would alteration hewing retired an eight-lane-wide stretch, which could further beryllium widened to 10 lanes successful the project’s 2nd phase,” said Benny Behanan, MP, portion attributing the hold successful kicking disconnected the project’s operation to the dilatory gait of onshore acquisition during the word of the LDF government.

This further resulted successful the postulation survey study conducted 5 years agone for the six-lane Kochi Bypass task becoming outdated. This necessitated a caller postulation survey, which cited the request for an eight-lane corridor, considering the monolithic summation successful inter-State, inter-district, and intra-district vehicular traffic, added Mr. Behanan, who had raised the request for the task aggregate times successful the Lok Sabha.

While stating that the projected Kochi Bypass would beryllium 8 lanes wide, NHAI sources said that further details of the task are awaited.

The determination to widen the alignment from Nettoor to Aroor has, successful turn, raised questions astir the trumpet-shaped flyover that the NHAI had mulled astatine Nettoor. A smaller mentation of the butterfly-shaped cloverleaf flyover, the trumpet flyover was to cater to postulation pouring into Nettoor from the NH Bypass, the Kochi Bypass, and the Kochi Port Connectivity NH.