COIMBATORE: Several bus shelters on the Avinashi Road were removed during the construction of the GD Naidu flyover, leaving passengers exposed to the sun and rain. The situation may soon change as the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation is planning to build additional bus shelters on the road and repair damaged ones.In 2025, the state highways department paid ₹2.64 crore to the city corporation for the installation of bus shelters at 19 locations. According to sources, out of the 19 locations identified from Uppilipalayam to Goldwins, nine locations had no bus shelters. Bus shelters in other locations were in a bad condition. In 2025, officials identified 32 locations — 15 on the stretch from Uppilipalayam to Goldwins and 17 on the opposite carriageway. However, the proposal faced delays, mainly due to concerns over its possible conflict with the proposed metro rail alignment and lack of private bidders.On Thursday, corporation commissioner Katta Ravi Teja conducted a joint inspection along with the state highway officials to assess suitable locations and available space along the corridor.G Manuneethi, retired divisional engineer for the road safety wing of the state highways department, has been roped in as the advisor for various road safety aspects, including the bus shelters.Talking to TOI, Manuneethi said, “Some of the locations, including PSG Tech, PSG Arts College, Coimbatore Airport and KMCH, needed new shelters. A trial run near PSG Tech has been proposed where the bus can enter from one bay and exit via the other bay. If the trial goes well, we’ll install a shelter there. But new places like the Varadharaja Mills and Aravind Eye Hospital were reported to have issues because the buses failed to stop by. These might need modification, which will be surveyed.”According to official sources, the money provided by the state highways had not been utilized but had earlier explored an advertisement-based model for constructing shelters on Avinashi Road. Officials mentioned that it was delayed after not many expressed interest, and it failed to attract advertisers.
