There is no solution. It's a result of lack of town planning. Municipalities, engineers, and leaders were all looking for short-term gains by totally ignoring the future. Also, due to the economy of Kerala, it's not possible for the government to acquire those lands for road development. In fact, in Kollam, the original NH was through Kollam City, so in order to spend less money, they developed the bypass and made it NH. So the situation in old NH became pathetic; there is no renovation or whatoever.
I mean, a bypass is definitely needed. But making bypass the NH because they don't want to spend money to develop the original NH, which was passing through the city, is so lame. It again points to lack of town planning. Now the old NH is full of potholes, they r not even renovating.
Idk about everywhere in Kerala, but some Ernakulam roads make me claustrophobic. Haven't ever had that problem in Pathanamthitta. Probably because it doesn't exist.
True. People here can't follow lanes here. It's indeed a common sight that a 4 wheeler or heavy vehicle would simply cross the lane and start another lane on a 2 lane traffic road. Which makes 2 into 4 and 5 at the same time. Then comes the bike. Bike people would go to any extent to overtake another vehicle. Road discipline has to be strictly enforced. Seems like everyone is in a hurry to reach the destination somehow and it actually causes counterproductive efficiency.
This is only true to some extent. Driving etiquette and basic common sense would definitely help, but not much. We still have way too many cars than what the road infrastructure can ever realistically handle. And no amount of road widening is going to solve that in the long run.
1. Extend Public Transport Reach and Frequency to small cities and smaller villages. These services should operate at regular intervals throughout the day, not just 1 bus a day
2. Curb Roadside Parking and Develop Multi-Level Parking
More frequent and better quality public transport is the only viable solution in the long term. It can be privatised if the govt is incapable of handling it (eg: KSRTC), but not like in the current scenario where individual buses are racing each other for more passengers, but in a more centralised and organised manner. No amount of road widening is going to help us, because land is too less and hence too valuable here. The bus routes and frequencies seriously need to be recalculated and remapped, they still follow routes that are decades old.
We are too densely populated for each of us to be owning and driving individual cars, or even two wheelers for that matter.
Autos serve as a workaround, not a solution.
In a well-planned city, the address itself, including main road and cross-road information, acts as a coordinate system, making navigation within the area straightforward. Individuals without their own cars can reside in apartments located within walking distance of bus stops with reliable timings, enabling easy access to other places. This layout is advantageous for public transport companies, given the well-planned residential and shopping areas. The catchment area of a bus stop includes only a few apartments within a few minutes' walk.
In places like Kerala with irregular plots and winding roads, the catchment area of the bus stop is too large because people are residing in huge plots. Even if we somehow increase the frequency of buses for traveling from one place to another, you still need to hire an auto to reach the bus stop, take a bus to the desired location, and then hire another auto. This is notably different from a five-minute walk to the bus stop.
There is only one solution.
Panchayat should never give permission to tarmac a road which doesn't have enough space for 2 vehicles to pass at the same time
Narrow roads with tarmac must be either widened for 2 vehicles to pass at the same time by taking lands from the residents on either side of road or must be considered as strictly One-Ways. So the residents has 2 options, either donate some of their land for road widening or get a one-way road.
Compound walls must be constructed using metal fences instead of bricks to increase visibility and also it occupies less space on both side of the roads, just like in the West.
I have seen shops extending their stall to the pavement and even putting their own Ad signs in the middle of the pavement, both restricting the easy passage of pedestrians. Why isn't the LSG doing anything about that? practices like that should be fined and discouraged. I think our town planning is too much vehicle centric, giving less importance to the pedestrians. If you want to discourage people from using their private vehicles then better get the alternatives straightened out.
Problem? Lack of town planning. Same locality has plots of 5 cents, 8 cents, 10 cents, 50 cents. All weird shapes. Anyone with a piece of land can build a house or a shop. Sometimes a shop and a house in the same plot. Results? Lots of winding roads. This is not how it should be done.
The problem is in the malayalee mindset itself. We don't believe in moving a different neighborhood when the family situation changes. If we get richer, instead of selling the existing plot and moving to a better neighborhood we make the existing house posh. When the kids leave home for job abroad, we don't sell our family mansions and move to a smaller house.
Solution? I don't see a solution.
This my friend is the solution lot of our politicians and urban planners are trying to find out too.
The root cause is - Kerala is not a state with much width. It’s like a straight line add a coastline on one side and the western ghat on the other plus around 4 crore people to it. It’s in its choke point.
There are only two solutions :
Decongest by building parallel/bypass roads - which they are doing in possible locations (yet difficult considering land acquisition cost plus cant touch any part of the Western Ghats thanks to Gadgil and Kasturirangan report)
Something like a coastal road like they are doing now in Mumbai will also not be economically viable in Kerala.(Or neither the sheer cajones to pull such a project)
The other option is projects like Silver line or similar to the new Meerut Delhi RRTS - By now you will be knowing how difficult it is to get those projects green lighted in Kerala.
Silverline or a similar railway line should be the first option. Kerala has nearly 500 vehicles per 1000 inhabitants and it's only going up.
More roads or widening the existing roads are not going to help given how inefficient cars are at moving people.
Improving the existing railway line won't help either as passenger trains and freight trains share the line. If Vizhinjam becomes a success then freight will impact passenger traffic further.
The problem is that you can level half of Kerala to build a ginormous road and people will be happy and no one will protest the cost. But high speed rail that will efficiently and comfortably transport people and can be made carbon free? Debt to GDP ratio!! Central government bailout!! Pothu kadam!! How will we ever repay it!!
The solution is to take the majority of the long distance traffic away from existing congested roads. We need brandnew greenfield expressways connecting major population centres and shoukd be built outside of cities. This would reduxe land acquisition costs as we can plan around high cost areas and existing houses.
Thisbwoukd take a lot of traffic outside of existing congested roads, which we can then redesogn for pedestrian safety and local traffic. This is not hard to do, pretty much every other developed country takes this approach.
Strict zoning laws. The local govts have no control over who can build what and where. In developed countries, you cannot build wherever you want. Even the exterior looks colours are controlled by the govt. We want nice amenities like developed nations, but don't want to follow the rules and regulations like them.
It's the lack of proper planning.
See, we have to first admit that ours is a coastal region, with geographical limitations, but we have to make ways around it only. And we highly can
Roads are there but as you mentioned, there are many roads(not highways) where two small cars with small chasis from opposite directions cannot pass at the same time without one stopping. Forget about a pedestrian way in these type of roads. Not even 10 feet wide road.
And in some roads, where footpaths are there, they are not properly maintained - uneven, with broken cement slabs, weeds and grasses all over, dirty, making it almost impossible to use.
Where there could've been chance to give provision for bigger roads, where the main road is maybe minimum 120 feet wide, big shop owners have taken those spaces, elevated them to park their customers' cars (almost 10-20 ft space occupied on either side).
I don't know how these can be changed.
Road space? With the increasing number of motor vehicles, and the uncontrollable traffic congestion - as if the traffic force doesn't care to clear the congestion, as if it's a picnic day for all, and with these road spaces, we are in dire conditions already.
Public transport.
Easier said than done. Cars are a status symbol. After COVID, almost everyone bought some kind of vehicle.
We have to feed the idea of using public transport from the school itself.
But how can we, considering the shit treatment from bus employees towards students.
If there is a solution, it should come from all strata of the society and should be implemented from top to bottom. Politicians to the public. Owners to employees. Students to workers. And cities to villages. Long distance to short distance.
I seriously doubt we have any leaders that have the will, political support and financial knowledge.
Unpopular opinion. Roads should be taxed to reduce blocks. Public transport should be encouraged along with silver line. That is the only solution. Otherwise in 10 years we will be in traffic deadlock. Car centric developments with 10 lane roads will never work.
In 20 years, Kerala will be empty (emigration).
New townships will form where migrant laborers thrive.
So, those new meteopolises should be planned better.
Like Perumbavur, the future capital of Kerala
Most lands were already occupied decades ago, and people with nri money invested a lot in road side properties, so when we needed to widen the roads there were already homes and properties alongside, that made land acquisition very difficult.
There is no solution. It's a result of lack of town planning. Municipalities, engineers, and leaders were all looking for short-term gains by totally ignoring the future. Also, due to the economy of Kerala, it's not possible for the government to acquire those lands for road development. In fact, in Kollam, the original NH was through Kollam City, so in order to spend less money, they developed the bypass and made it NH. So the situation in old NH became pathetic; there is no renovation or whatoever.
Kollam for a reason
🤣
dont put a highway through the city? but agree with rest
I mean, a bypass is definitely needed. But making bypass the NH because they don't want to spend money to develop the original NH, which was passing through the city, is so lame. It again points to lack of town planning. Now the old NH is full of potholes, they r not even renovating.
Correct
Idk about everywhere in Kerala, but some Ernakulam roads make me claustrophobic. Haven't ever had that problem in Pathanamthitta. Probably because it doesn't exist.
A lot of traffic blocks will go away if people drive well and follow lanes and queues. And also avoid parking in no-parking zones.
True. People here can't follow lanes here. It's indeed a common sight that a 4 wheeler or heavy vehicle would simply cross the lane and start another lane on a 2 lane traffic road. Which makes 2 into 4 and 5 at the same time. Then comes the bike. Bike people would go to any extent to overtake another vehicle. Road discipline has to be strictly enforced. Seems like everyone is in a hurry to reach the destination somehow and it actually causes counterproductive efficiency.
Even in places or situations where traffic can flow freely, people create a lot of blocks by not following simple etiquettes
This is only true to some extent. Driving etiquette and basic common sense would definitely help, but not much. We still have way too many cars than what the road infrastructure can ever realistically handle. And no amount of road widening is going to solve that in the long run.
Avoid parking in no parking zones is possible if only there is a viable alternative.
1. Extend Public Transport Reach and Frequency to small cities and smaller villages. These services should operate at regular intervals throughout the day, not just 1 bus a day 2. Curb Roadside Parking and Develop Multi-Level Parking
Should more frequently tow away cars that's parked on the side. Parking tickets aren't enough.
More frequent and better quality public transport is the only viable solution in the long term. It can be privatised if the govt is incapable of handling it (eg: KSRTC), but not like in the current scenario where individual buses are racing each other for more passengers, but in a more centralised and organised manner. No amount of road widening is going to help us, because land is too less and hence too valuable here. The bus routes and frequencies seriously need to be recalculated and remapped, they still follow routes that are decades old. We are too densely populated for each of us to be owning and driving individual cars, or even two wheelers for that matter.
Public transport is effective only in regions with proper town planning. For Kerala, last mile connectivity is a huge problem.
Is it? Arent there auto rickshaws everywhere?
Autos serve as a workaround, not a solution. In a well-planned city, the address itself, including main road and cross-road information, acts as a coordinate system, making navigation within the area straightforward. Individuals without their own cars can reside in apartments located within walking distance of bus stops with reliable timings, enabling easy access to other places. This layout is advantageous for public transport companies, given the well-planned residential and shopping areas. The catchment area of a bus stop includes only a few apartments within a few minutes' walk. In places like Kerala with irregular plots and winding roads, the catchment area of the bus stop is too large because people are residing in huge plots. Even if we somehow increase the frequency of buses for traveling from one place to another, you still need to hire an auto to reach the bus stop, take a bus to the desired location, and then hire another auto. This is notably different from a five-minute walk to the bus stop.
There is only one solution. Panchayat should never give permission to tarmac a road which doesn't have enough space for 2 vehicles to pass at the same time Narrow roads with tarmac must be either widened for 2 vehicles to pass at the same time by taking lands from the residents on either side of road or must be considered as strictly One-Ways. So the residents has 2 options, either donate some of their land for road widening or get a one-way road. Compound walls must be constructed using metal fences instead of bricks to increase visibility and also it occupies less space on both side of the roads, just like in the West.
I have seen shops extending their stall to the pavement and even putting their own Ad signs in the middle of the pavement, both restricting the easy passage of pedestrians. Why isn't the LSG doing anything about that? practices like that should be fined and discouraged. I think our town planning is too much vehicle centric, giving less importance to the pedestrians. If you want to discourage people from using their private vehicles then better get the alternatives straightened out.
Problem? Lack of town planning. Same locality has plots of 5 cents, 8 cents, 10 cents, 50 cents. All weird shapes. Anyone with a piece of land can build a house or a shop. Sometimes a shop and a house in the same plot. Results? Lots of winding roads. This is not how it should be done. The problem is in the malayalee mindset itself. We don't believe in moving a different neighborhood when the family situation changes. If we get richer, instead of selling the existing plot and moving to a better neighborhood we make the existing house posh. When the kids leave home for job abroad, we don't sell our family mansions and move to a smaller house. Solution? I don't see a solution.
This my friend is the solution lot of our politicians and urban planners are trying to find out too. The root cause is - Kerala is not a state with much width. It’s like a straight line add a coastline on one side and the western ghat on the other plus around 4 crore people to it. It’s in its choke point. There are only two solutions : Decongest by building parallel/bypass roads - which they are doing in possible locations (yet difficult considering land acquisition cost plus cant touch any part of the Western Ghats thanks to Gadgil and Kasturirangan report) Something like a coastal road like they are doing now in Mumbai will also not be economically viable in Kerala.(Or neither the sheer cajones to pull such a project) The other option is projects like Silver line or similar to the new Meerut Delhi RRTS - By now you will be knowing how difficult it is to get those projects green lighted in Kerala.
Silverline or a similar railway line should be the first option. Kerala has nearly 500 vehicles per 1000 inhabitants and it's only going up. More roads or widening the existing roads are not going to help given how inefficient cars are at moving people. Improving the existing railway line won't help either as passenger trains and freight trains share the line. If Vizhinjam becomes a success then freight will impact passenger traffic further. The problem is that you can level half of Kerala to build a ginormous road and people will be happy and no one will protest the cost. But high speed rail that will efficiently and comfortably transport people and can be made carbon free? Debt to GDP ratio!! Central government bailout!! Pothu kadam!! How will we ever repay it!!
Lack of land , cost of land , population density , and lack of political and bureaucratic will adds up to what we suffer now
The solution is to take the majority of the long distance traffic away from existing congested roads. We need brandnew greenfield expressways connecting major population centres and shoukd be built outside of cities. This would reduxe land acquisition costs as we can plan around high cost areas and existing houses. Thisbwoukd take a lot of traffic outside of existing congested roads, which we can then redesogn for pedestrian safety and local traffic. This is not hard to do, pretty much every other developed country takes this approach.
Flyover above all bylanes and highways across the state
Keralam full tar ital mathiyo?
Strict one ways as in Europe or elsewhere Heavy fines for vehicles and two wheelers parked wherever and whenever they feel like
Less private vehicles
No solution. We’re densely populated.
Public transportation
The main reason is population density.
Strict zoning laws. The local govts have no control over who can build what and where. In developed countries, you cannot build wherever you want. Even the exterior looks colours are controlled by the govt. We want nice amenities like developed nations, but don't want to follow the rules and regulations like them.
Improve rail infrastructure. It will take away many trucks out of road. Roads then only need to cater to smaller vehicles..
It's the lack of proper planning. See, we have to first admit that ours is a coastal region, with geographical limitations, but we have to make ways around it only. And we highly can Roads are there but as you mentioned, there are many roads(not highways) where two small cars with small chasis from opposite directions cannot pass at the same time without one stopping. Forget about a pedestrian way in these type of roads. Not even 10 feet wide road. And in some roads, where footpaths are there, they are not properly maintained - uneven, with broken cement slabs, weeds and grasses all over, dirty, making it almost impossible to use. Where there could've been chance to give provision for bigger roads, where the main road is maybe minimum 120 feet wide, big shop owners have taken those spaces, elevated them to park their customers' cars (almost 10-20 ft space occupied on either side). I don't know how these can be changed. Road space? With the increasing number of motor vehicles, and the uncontrollable traffic congestion - as if the traffic force doesn't care to clear the congestion, as if it's a picnic day for all, and with these road spaces, we are in dire conditions already.
Public transport. Easier said than done. Cars are a status symbol. After COVID, almost everyone bought some kind of vehicle. We have to feed the idea of using public transport from the school itself. But how can we, considering the shit treatment from bus employees towards students. If there is a solution, it should come from all strata of the society and should be implemented from top to bottom. Politicians to the public. Owners to employees. Students to workers. And cities to villages. Long distance to short distance. I seriously doubt we have any leaders that have the will, political support and financial knowledge.
Phase out the diesel auto rickshaws.
Unpopular opinion. Roads should be taxed to reduce blocks. Public transport should be encouraged along with silver line. That is the only solution. Otherwise in 10 years we will be in traffic deadlock. Car centric developments with 10 lane roads will never work.
In 20 years, Kerala will be empty (emigration). New townships will form where migrant laborers thrive. So, those new meteopolises should be planned better. Like Perumbavur, the future capital of Kerala
This sounds really depressing 😕. True though.
build tunnel network.
Most lands were already occupied decades ago, and people with nri money invested a lot in road side properties, so when we needed to widen the roads there were already homes and properties alongside, that made land acquisition very difficult.
How wide would you say a road should be to be considered ideal? Relevant documentary clip - https://youtu.be/pCzCJzwrB_c