Katapady junction turns into a traffic nightmare!

Katapady: Traffic jam at the busy Katapady junction has been a daily affair for a few months now. Motorists, as well as pedestrians, face hassles to navigate the congested roads leading to the junction every day.

This junction on the Nation Highway 66 has a long service road and connects Mangaluru, Udupi, Shirva, and Mattu beach. All these busy routes see a higher movement of vehicles round the clock.

Moreover, there are several business establishments, places of worship, and schools and colleges in the vicinity of the junction and beyond. This makes the route even busier than usual, especially during the rush hours.

The absence of U-turns on the national highway near the Katapady stretch of the service road, adds to the woes. Motorists have to either travel to Udyavara or to Pangala on the highway to take a U-turn which is quite far away from the junction. In such a condition, vehicles invariably use the junction to save on fuel.

Directing traffic at this junction has become a nightmare for the police personnel. During rush hours, about 8 to 10 policemen struggle to decongest the roads. Vehicles arriving from Shirva are stopped from entering the National highway and those wanting to go towards Shirva from Mattu’s side are diverted all the way to Udyavara.

Even with these measures, 3-kilometer-long traffic congestions have become a new normal.

Locals say that an underpass or an overpass will be an apt solution to the problem. ASI of Kaup Police station Dayananda also agreed to this assessment.

Panchayat Development Officer Mamata Y Shetty also agreed but said the panchayat is helpless in this case. The decision has to be taken by higher officials, at the state and national levels, she said.

Whatever be the case, the locals of Katapady and the commuters want a permanent solution to the long traffic jams at the earliest.