Thiruvananthapuram, Tuesday 09 February 2010: The State police have recommended the setting up of speed humps and erection of cautionary boards at traffic points where smaller roads join the Thiruvananthapuram-Kollam National Highway stretch.

The police have initiated a programme to improve traffic safety for motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, two-wheeler riders and other road users on the 70-km arterial and congested segment. They said as many as 675 people were killed and 5,084 injured in accidents on the stretch during 2005-09.

Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan will inaugurate the programme on Wednesday.

Inspector-General of Police A. Hemachandran, who headed the task force for ‘making the Thiruvananthapuram-Kollam Highway a model road’ said in his report that road markings were either absent or had become too faded to be visible to motorists. There was a need for more traffic and cautionary signboards along the stretch.

Advertisement boards and hoardings impeded the visibility of traffic signboards. Street-lights were absent in many places. Junctions were ill lit and medians and traffic islands were not highlighted with reflective devices.