Widening of road to Kochi airport in progress

In a bid to solve the road congestion enroute Nedumbassery airport, the Cochin International Airport (CIAL) has begun widening of the two-lane road from Athani to the international airport in Kochi. If all goes well, the road widening work will be completed within a year. The existing two-lane road will pave way for a four-lane National Highway thus helping to decongest the road.

The construction work of the road alone is estimated to cost CIAL at least Rs 20 crore. The work has been in progress since January. If all goes well, it is expected to complete the road work within a year. As per plan, the widened road will cover a distance of 5 km. The road on the way to the golf course will also be covered, said AC K Nair, Director, CIAL.

According to CIAL officials, the road, once widened, is expected to straighten the curves and turnings between Athani and the airport which is currently a traffic bottleneck. This is very essential as the number of passengers who arrive at the airport has increased substantially over the past years. However, CIAL officials said that to straighten the curves on the route, it was necessary to construct an RoB over the railway line which is on the way to the airport.