Works on RoB at Vatluru gets under way

It comes as a relief for those using the Vijayawada-Eluru road

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 levelcrossing 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 womens 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.