Increase in volume of traffic and subsequent developments

The roads of Cochin City have not changed much in the last 30 years.  Now roads link up new colonies, but the old roads and thoroughfares was not widened and have not improved in width.  To the prominent road junctions in the state many more are being increasingly added mostly in the cities of Cochin, Trivandrum and Kozhikode.  The volume of traffic has increased incredibly.  The number of automobiles has also increased considerably. 
 
Both heavy and light vehicles dominate the scene during peak hours.  Non-mechanically propelled vehicles, even though they are less in number still create problems during peak hours.  Rickshaws, tempos, cars, trucks and buses that ply during peak hours create traffic snarls.  Peak hour traffic volume on important road intersections of Cochin has been studied at 16 important junctions.  In the present study only 5 important junctions have been considered for an in depth analysis of the volume of traffic.
 
There are two peak hours lasting 2 hours each in a time span of 12 hours everyday.  The morning peak hour is generally between 9.30 AM and 11.30 AM.  The evening peak hour is between 5.30 PM to 7.30 AM.  Total peak hour traffic on most of the junctions enlisted shows that 30 to 38 percent of the total flow is between 8.00 AM to 8.00 PM.  The volume of traffic puts intense pressure on the existing roads.  Traffic congestion, accidents, bottleneck points and the danger of environment pollution caused by long queues of automobiles emitting carbon monoxide and other pollutants is inevitable in cities like Cochin.
 
Even though traffic congestion is a problem, this one aspect has now fuelled fast appreciation in the value of Real Estate in Cochin .  Traveling to the city from far off places is now an arduous task.  People working in city centers now consider options to own living spaces in city centers due to the uncontrolled congestion in the city roads