Traffic snarl at the Vyttila junction
| Photo Credit: File Picture

The Motor Vehicles department (MVD) which initiated measures to decongest the Kalamassery and Edapally junctions during the past three months, is slated to zero in on reforms within a month to decongest Vyttila – which is said to be the biggest junction in Kerala.

This comes in the wake of widespread criticism against the PWD (NH wing) and civic agencies for their alleged inaction in taking measures to decongest the junction where traffic movement remains chaotic, despite the PWD constructing a six-lane flyover in 2021.

As per a tentative plan drawn up in November 2024, efforts were to be made to allow buses and other vehicles, which now have to negotiate sharp turns, to directly access Kaniampuzha Road which leads to the Vyttila Mobility Hub.

In addition, the width of the roundabout beneath the flyover and the medians would have to be reduced to create adequate space for moving vehicles. The MVD decided to intervene in the issue since motorists have for years been suffering the ordeal of waiting for multiple signal changes to cross the junction where chaos prevails due to unscientific construction of the flyover, a roundabout, and traffic islands beneath it.

The MVD and other stakeholders would hold a meeting in this regard this week, as directed by Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar, sources said.

The MVD is expected to do a traffic study followed by trial runs, as was done in Kalamassery and Edappally, before finalising the traffic reforms in Vyttila. The reforms at Vyttila need a more comprehensive study, since over one lakh passenger car units pass through the junction every day, they added.

Elaborating on how traffic reforms paid rich dividends at Kalamassery and at Edappally, sources said that no death or injury was reported from any accident in Kalamassery during the past three months.

“This is due to, among other reasons, the reduction in the total number of ‘conflict points’ among vehicles from 17 to a meager three. Similarly, the reforms at Edappally had reduced direct vehicle crossings, significantly decreasing the waiting time for the green signal,” sources added.