Foot overbridges near schools, including Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Cotton Hill, and St. Mary’s Higher Secondary School, Pattom, and traffic signals that can be used easily by the visually impaired are among a set of recent decisions to ensure road safety in the city.
At a meeting of agencies, including the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB), the Thiruvananthapuram Road Development Company Limited, city Corporation, Fire and Rescue Services, the PWD’s Road Safety Cell and the City Police, chaired by District Collector Biju Prabhakar, Rs.25 lakh was allotted for the foot-over bridges, and posting of traffic wardens near 10 city schools, which have a high number of students, during school closing hours.
The meeting also decided to allocate Rs.15 lakh to study traffic issues at crucial junctions in the city including Sreekaryam, Vattiyurkavu, Thirumala, Jagathy, Vazhuthacaud, Karamana, Kuravankonam, Edappazhinji, Killippalam, Kazhakuttam, Pulimoodu, Pettah, Chakka, Peroorkada, and Vizhinjam among others. The studies would be carried out by NATPAC and experts from various engineering colleges.
A novel decision at the meeting was to think of a traffic signal system that would be friendly to the visually challenged as well. The KRFB has been asked to discuss the system with Keltron and to submit a proposal. The meeting also discussed doing away with the round-abouts at Killippalam, Kesavadasapuram and Karamana, apart from establishing traffic signals at Manacaud, Chakka, Pettah, Bakery Junction and the All Saints College junction.
Hybrid batteries for traffic signals that have to function round the clock, including those at Pattom and Kowdiar, where there are traffic blocks even at 11 p.m., were mooted at the meeting. It was decided to provide reflective jackets and batons for traffic wardens posted for night shifts.
Foot overbridges near two schools; traffic wardens to be posted near 10 schools.
