KOCHI: With the road accident involving actor Jagathy Sreekumar throwing light on the increasing number of accidents occurring because of unscientifically constructed medians, Public Works Department (PWD) has decided to renovate severely damaged medians on the city roads.As a beginning, the medians on the road from the Goshree bridge, along Shanmugham Road and Boat Jetty, till BTH will be reconstructed as part of the Bitumen Macadam Bitumen Concrete (BMBC) tarring process, which is set to begin within a fortnight.The work will be completed at a cost more than Rs3.5 crore.“There are no standardised dimensions for medians. The direction and nature of traffic on a road decides the dimensions and structure of the median constructed there.The decision regarding the same is taken by PWD for normal roads and National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) designs the medians to be constructed at major junctions.The number of in-vehicles and out-vehicles as well as the movement of the traffic are the criteria considered by NATPAC while designing the medians,” said Jose T I, Executive Engineer, PWD.Jose added that the other damaged medians in the city will be repaired as and when the roads will be put on repair works.Some of the medians posing severe threat to the onroad vehicles are the ones present near Deshabhimani Junction, Kaloor junction and along Shanmugham Road (near CSI church).These structures have not only worn-off due to frequent hits from the vehicles, but also lack reflectors to warn the drivers of a possible collision.DESHABHIMANI JUNCTION:A major chunk of the median on the stretch of road between Jawaharlal Nehru International stadium and Deshabhimani Junction is damaged as it is common for the vehicles to run into these structures.Since only a part of the median (which can damage the underside of vehicle) remains on the road where the original median once stood, careless drivers seldom take note of it.KALOOR JUNCTION:In the race to avoid being ‘caught’ at the signal at Kaloor Junction, speeding vehicles along the Edappally-High Court Road fail to notice the median near the junction.As a result, frequent collisions of vehicles with the median have left the structure severely damaged.SHANMUGHAM ROAD:At the junction where the Shanmugham Road converges with the Park Avenue Road and Broadway, the median lacks a major component - a reflector.Hence, it is common for unwary drivers to bump into it.This median too will be repaired as part of the upcoming project of PWD.
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