Title - Works on RoB at Vatluru gets under way

Vexed with frequent traffic bottlenecks, the commuters frequenting from Eluru to Vijayawada draw a great relief from the commencement of works for a Rail over Bridge (RoB) to replace a level crossing at Vatluru on the city outskirts.The proposal for the RoB project has overcome the teething problems and got into execution mode since last six months after its sanctioning by the government. It is proposed to build the RoB with an estimated cost of Rs. 29 crore- Rs. 15.51 crore to be borne by the State government as its share while Rs. 3.9 crore by the railway authorities. The RoB runs for a distance of 100 meters from the Vatluru branch of the State Bank of India on the Eluru side and Sir. C.R.R. Engineering College on the Vijayawada side. Besides, the railway bridge is designed to run for another 78 meters. The location of a high-raised Mary Maatha statue close to the level crossing cast a shadow over the fate of the RoB initially in view of religious sentiments involved in the issue. However, all such fears gave way to hope with the Roads and Buildings department having designed the project in such a manner that the statue would remain unaffected as a traffic island. Srinivasulu, Executive Engineer, the R&B Department said it was planned to make the RoB operational by October, 2014.

Service roads

To start with, the authorities began the works for formation of service roads. Mr. Srinivasulu said the RoB construction would not affect the traffic movement on the busy Vijayawada-Eluru road in anyway as the service roads, which were planned to be completed by the time the approach road works began, would be used for traffic diversion. Staircases would be built on either side of the RoB as part of providing road connectivity to the residents of Vatluru village.

The level crossing has remained to be a roadblock to the growth of the Eluru city for a long time. As it remains closed for most part of the day, enabling the trains in the Vijayawada-Visakhapatnam section pass through, the level-crossing turned to be a major source of traffic snarls at the point and, in turn, heartburn for the commuters. The location of a cluster of colleges such as a Polytechnic college, Engineering college and a women’s college of Sir. C.R. Reddy Group of Educational Institutes on either side of the level crossing turns the traffic situation from bad to worse. The RoB, if becomes operational, will help in reducing the travel time from Eluru to Vijayawada to a great extent and also help the city enjoy a hassle-free connectivity with the Kolkatta-Chennai National Highway-5.