Railways gave green signal: Coimbatore wooden bridge is being built, relief to two states
Tamil Nadu: And vehicles from Kerala will come through the Marapalam railway tunnel near the Kochi-Salem National Highway. People are facing problems due to daily traffic jams. In such a situation, an update has been issued regarding the widening of the bridge. There is a section called Marapalam on the Coimbatore-Palakkad road. Vehicles go to Tamil Nadu-Kerala through the tunnel under the railway bridge. Earlier a wooden bridge was built during the British period. That is why it is called a wooden bridge. Earlier it was a two-way traffic. Later it was reconstructed as a concrete bridge and converted into one-way traffic, where more than 30,000 vehicles pass through the bridge daily from both the states. This bridge is 5.5 meters wide. Due to the width being very less, only one vehicle can pass through the bridge at a time. There is a situation that the oncoming vehicle can wait.
Due to this, there is a heavy traffic jam every day. Traffic jam on weekends and public holidays. People are facing problems due to jam for about one kilometer. Ambulances often get stuck in trouble. This is causing trouble to the patients. Similarly, students, commuters and heavy vehicles are facing problems. This long-standing problem is causing a lot of trouble to the people. Due to traffic congestion, many people are using the Madhukarai Bazaar road area for 4 km. The 5.5 m wide bridge will be demolished and a 9 m wide bridge will be built and another 9 m wide bridge will be built nearby. A 1.5 m wide footpath will also be built on the 9 m wide bridge. It is planned to make it a 4 lane road.
A concrete box will be prepared for the 9 m width of the bridge and box pushing technology will be applied in it. After this, land acquisition work will be started for the construction of a 4-lane highway. Coimbatore District Collector Krantikumar said, “The work of demolishing the wooden bridge will start soon.
31.12.24 issued permission to the Chief Bridge Engineer, Southern Railway to design the bridge as per the existing requirement. Marapalam comes under Palakkad Railway Division. Therefore, their advice was taken and the bridge work is about to start, during this time the changes to be made in the railway transport were also discussed. We will soon acquire the land and start the work.” Highway department officials said, ”The work of the railway administration is pending. Our department will soon get the administrative permission. After that the tender will be issued.” Railway gave green signal: Coimbatore wooden bridge is being prepared, relief to two states
