The Hindu : Kerala News : Parking space — the main problem traffic in focus

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Kerala

Parking space — the main problem traffic in focus

Photo: Vipin Chandran

NO SPACE LEFT: With the city falling short of parking spaces, vehicles are often parked along the footpaths and roads, adding to the traffic woes. —

Traffic congestion in the city could be eased considerably if coordinated efforts are made to implement steps like building the Vytilla bus terminal, shifting of market to Maradu, diverting of long distance buses thro

ugh the proposed Vytilla bus terminal, and starting separate circular buses from Vytilla through Edappally and Aroor to Fort Kochi/Mattancherry/Aluva. More pay-and-park stations, preferably situated at one or two kms distance intervals, starting of city route AC buses can minimize the traffic congestion in and around Kochi.

Unni Nandakumaran

By email All the suggestions are very useful ones that can end this menace of accidents and help in easing the traffic problems, but such steps require a policy decision and are not in the hands of the police department.

Parking of vehicles should be prohibited at I.S. Press Road, as heavy traffic along this road coupled with parking leaves little space even for pedestrians to walk through; more so since two major Central Government O

ffices are located there — Central Excise and Customs Office and Income Tax Office. Buses stopping and taking passengers in the middle of the road, obstructing vehicles coming from behind is a common sight a few metres away from the South Bus stand in MG Road.

Mini S

Thripunithura The major problem with Kochi is lack of parking space and taking all this into consideration we will study your proposal for removing all parking from the I. S. Press Road and if we find some alternative solution we will be implementing the same. Buses stopping in the middle of the road is another problem effecting the smooth flow of traffic and we have been cracking down on the same and will continue to do so, at the place mentioned by you.

Your efforts to streamline traffic is appreciated but I am not sure how much it would bear fruit when all roads are narrow, especially the turn near Elamkulam church and bus stop towards Kadavanthara. Half the road is

eroded and so now all the vehicles have to travel on the side of the oncoming vehicles, thus creating a traffic block in the mornings.

S. Prabhakar

Elamkulam This is very true. The narrow roads of Kochi with virtually no scope for expansion due to unplanned urbanisation is one of the major problems facing the traffic system. The Corporation and the PWD authorities have to do their share in properly using the existing space properly by tarring it and removing the obstructions on the road. Building of overbridges and elevated roads is another solution to this problem, but this is a costly alternative.

Traffic police may consider allowing only one way traffic on the Chittoor road and T.D. road for vehicles from north side to south side and one-way traffic for vehicles from south side to north side through M.G road.

The traffic may be allowed to both sides through Shanmugham road, as the road is wide enough for this purpose. Vehicles may also be allowed to go from one way to the other through the connecting roads such as Padma Road, Rajaji Road, Shenoys Road, Hospital Road, which may also be made one-way. If the roads are utilised in this way there will be more space for vehicles to ply even after parking space taken up by the vehicles on the side of the roads as in M.G Road. Similarly one-lane traffic will always be possible on Chittoor and T.D road assuming that some space is occupied for parking on one side.

James Paul

Palarivattom We have tried such a system a few months back on an experiment basis, but due to the immense volume of the traffic in Kochi city, this proved to be a failure. We have a dense volume of traffic that has to be spread over all the roads and so making the roads one way is not feasible for the present. That is why we are now trying to use more and more roads for two way traffic so that all the roads are used and this this volume can be segregated to different roads.

I wish to point out that Private Buses, except for a few, plying via Thripunithura rarely visit the Municipal bus stand during their return trips from Ernakulam to their respective terminal points. Almost all trips of

buses especially bound for Poothotta make it a point not to enter the bus stand, but stop at Kizhakkekotta Bus stop and go straight to Poothotta side, ignoring the police sign board. The conductors of these Buses have the audacity to state to the commuters while boarding the bus itself that the bus will not touch the Thripunithura Bus stand.

K.M.G. Menon

By email We will conduct special checks to detect such violations and if the buses are doing so we will ask the RTA to cancel their permits or to show cause to them to ensure that they come to the stand without fail, even for the night trips.

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