Traffic queues at the Kumbalam toll plaza on the Kochi–Alappuzha route continue to stretch for more than 100 metres at times, with travellers and auto-rickshaw drivers demanding that the facility be shifted to Aroor to ease congestion and improve safety.
The congestion is reportedly linked to vehicles arriving without FASTag and making payments through UPI at the toll booths. Network failures are also slowing transactions, adding to delays at the plaza. Travellers have urged that the National Highways Authority of India’s direction to allow vehicles to pass without paying in a lane when the queue extends beyond 100 metres should be enforced.
The Kumbalam toll plaza has four gates in each direction. Travellers say the highway narrows sharply as vehicles move from the wider road towards the toll facility, creating a bottleneck during periods of heavy traffic. A demand to increase the number of gates, taking vehicle density into account, has not been accepted, with limited space reportedly cited as the reason.
The congestion is also affecting vehicles that are not required to pay toll. A separate passage intended for auto-rickshaws has been narrowed by the installation of iron posts. Auto-rickshaw drivers told the report that vehicles scrape against the posts while passing through the restricted space, damaging their paint and making movement difficult.
Roadside activity near the southern side of the toll plaza is adding to the pressure on the approach road. The report said the number of roadside vendors has increased in the area, while vehicles stopping along the road are creating conditions that could contribute to collisions. The combination of a narrower approach, stopped vehicles and pedestrian and commercial activity leaves limited room for traffic to move around the toll lanes.
The demand to relocate the plaza to Aroor is based on the availability of more space there, according to travellers. They also point out that the toll plaza was previously located in Aroor. The proposed shift is being raised as a solution to the physical constraints at Kumbalam, where adding more gates is reportedly difficult because of the limited site area.
The immediate concerns reported at Kumbalam involve both toll collection and road management. FASTag compliance, payment-network reliability, queue management, access for toll-exempt vehicles and roadside parking are all affecting how traffic moves through the facility. Travellers are seeking enforcement of the 100-metre queue provision as well as a longer-term relocation of the plaza.
The report did not provide a response from the National Highways Authority of India on the relocation demand, the iron posts or the enforcement of the queue-management direction. The next steps therefore depend on the highway authority’s response to the complaints and on whether it reviews the toll plaza’s layout and operational arrangements.
