State Highway 1 (Kerala)


Kerala's State Highway 1 or KL SH 1, also known as Main Central Road or MC Road, is the arterial state highway starting from Kesavadasapuram in Thiruvananthapuram and ends at Angamaly, a suburb of Greater Cochin in Ernakulam district, in the state of Kerala, India. The highway was built by Raja Kesavadas, Dewan of Travancore, in the 1790s. Plan for a new highway called Thiruvananthapuram–Angamaly Greenfield Highway, which runs parallel to the KL SH 1 is proposed and is under early stage of development.

Route description

This road starts from National Highway 66 at Kesavadasapuram in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, and joins the NH544 at Angamaly Ernakulam district. The KL SH 1 passes through Venjaramoodu, Kilimanoor, Nilamel, Chadayamangalam, Ayoor, Kottarakkara, Enathu, Adoor, Pandalam, Chengannur, Tiruvalla, Changanassery, Kottayam, Ettumanoor, Kuravilangad, Monippally, Puthuvely, Koothattukulam, Meenkunnam, Muvattupuzha, Pezhakkappilly, Mannoor, Pulluvazhy, Perumbavoor and Kalady. In addition, an MC bypass road linking thaikkad with Vettu road junction near NH66 in Kazhakoottam is also part of the road in Thiruvananthapuram district. Before NH 544 was built through Angamaly, KL SH 1 extended up to Karukutty village away from Angamaly town in the Chalakudy road. A section of this road between Mulakuzha and Kottayam is now upgraded as a section of NH 183. KL SH 1 is a popular route to access the shrine of Sabarimala. It covers many important towns of Central and South Kerala.

History

The highway was built by Raja Kesavadas, the dewan of the Travancore Kingdom.
The KL SH 1 was renovated under the World Bank aided 'Kerala State Transport Project '. The upgrading was carried out in two phases.
Under phase 1, two stretches, Thaikkod - Chengannur and Muvattupuzha - Angamaly were upgraded and works were completed in 2010. In addition, a new road link to NH 66 has been completed between Thaikkad and Vettu road. In phase 2, the Chengannur - Ettumanoor stretch was upgraded. The road has a total width of and facilitates two-lane traffic. The road also have a carriageway and a sealed shoulder, having width of. The project also features protection walls and adequate drainage facilities. The construction of seven bridges has also been envisaged as part of the project. This includes the constructions at Neelimangalam, Manipuzha, Pannikuzhy, Arattukadavu, Illimala, Thondara, and Kallissery. In addition, three existing bridges along the route is also widened. The work was launched on 14 September 2014 and completed in 2018.

Main intersections

The Motor Vehicles Department, in partnership with the Kerala Road Safety Authority and the police has installed automatic traffic enforcement camera systems in between Venjaramoodu - Chengannur section of KL SH 1 for detecting speed violations of vehicles.