The inauguration of the flyover at Nayandahalli Junction has brought some relief to commuters travelling on this stretch. However, the 62-km-long Outer Ring Road is choked with bottlenecks. Aknisree Karthik checks out and tracks the progress of different development works.
Between Mysore Road and Hosur Road
On the Outer Ring Road (ORR) stretch between Nayandahalli Junction and Silk Board, traffic slows down at four junctions - Deve Gowda Petrol Bunk, Kanakapura Road Junction, BTM Layout and Silk Board Junction. At peak hours, it takes 10 to 15 minutes for commuters to cross each traffic signal on this stretch.
To pass the 9-km stretch from Deve Gowda Petrol Bunk to Silk Board Junction, it takes nearly an hour.
While the BBMP has built underpasses at Kadirenahalli and Puttenahalli Junctions, it has no other plans to smoothen the heavy traffic on this stretch.
Prakash Murugan, a student of SJBIT College who often travels on this stretch, said, “This is one of the main stretches for those heading towards Koramangala, Hosur Road and Marathahalli. This stretch will soon become a hell as the number of vehicles is increasing every year. Proper planning is needed to reduce the traffic.” The level 2 flyover connecting the city to Mysore Road at the Nayandahalli Junction will take another eight months to be completed.
Between Hosur Road and Old Airport Road
Speeding vehicles between Silk Board Junction and Hebbal flyover, slow down at Bellandur, Devarabeesanahalli and Kadubeesanahalli Junctions. Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has taken up construction of underpasses and flyovers at these junctions.
“One of the ramps of Bellandur and Devarabeesanahalli flyovers (towards HBR Layout) is open. It may take one more month for the other ramps (towards Hebbal flyover) to be completed,” a BDA engineer said .
Also on the stretch, only one side of the bi-directional underpass at Kadubeesanahalli is open, the other is nearing completion, the engineer added.
Between Old Airport Road and Bellary Road
The BDA has taken up construction of a underpass and a flyover at Hennur Junction. These works will be completed in the next seven to eight months. Only one side of the bi-directional underpass (towards HBR Layout) has been completed now. There are more works to be done on this stretch to reduce the mounting vehicular traffic which eventually leads to chaos.
“To clear the bottleneck at Nagawara Junction, BDA will be taking up the construction of a two-ramp flyover” said the BDA engineer.
Santosh, a cab driver complained, “After crossing the bottlenecks at Hennur and Nagawara Junctions, there is huge traffic at K R Puram Junction which links the ORR to Old Madras Road. Also, vehicles heading towards Bellary Road and Bangalore International Airport need 10-15 minutes to cross the signal below K R Puram bridge.”
Between Bellary Road and Tumkur Road
BDA has taken up construction of flyovers and underpasses at Bhadrappa Layout, Kuvempu Circle, BEL Circle and Jalahalli railway level crossing, which are the major bottlenecks on this 7-km stretch.
One ramp of flyover at Bhadrappa Layout is nearing completion, but no signs of other ramp coming up.
When a BDA engineer was quizzed about the delay, he said, “BWSSB has taken up works of sewage lines on the stretch. Once they are done, we will divert the present traffic to a service road and begin the construction of other ramp of the flyover.”
Vinay Kumar P V, a regular commuter on this stretch, demanded the works to be speeded up at this Junction and said, “Vehicles from Hebbal towards Mathikere, Kanteerava Studio, Tumkur Road and Magadi Road pile up during peak hours.”
A BDA engineer at the site pointed out, “The bi-directional underpasses at Kuvempu Circle and BEL Circle are open for traffic (towards Hebbal). Works have been delayed on the other side of underpasses as there is some problem with land acquisition.”
Deepak Kumar,who works for an MNC firm at Electronic City said,”There is a major traffic problem at the Jalahalli railway level crossing. There are two railway tracks here - one for goods and the other for passenger rails and consequently, two sets of railway gates. When the gates are closed for movement of trains, hundreds of vehicles line up creating a massive traffic in this zone.”According to a BDA official, the South Western Railways, in association with BDA, is planning to construct a road overbridge (ROB) to link the stretches of the ORR dissected by the railway lines.
However, after crossing the railway lines, there is a huge traffic at Gorguntepalya Junction which links the ORR to Tumkur Road. This stretch between Gorguntepalya and Hebbal is the only road connecting Tumkur Road to Bellary Road and Old Madras Road, where there is a heavy movement of lorries.
Between Tumkur Road and Mysore Road
Apart from the two major traffic signals -CMT Junction and Kanteerava Studio Junction - commuters take just 15-20 minutes to reach Nayandahalli junction which is about 12 km from the CMT junction.“Widening works have already begun. We will build a flyover and underpass at Kanteerava Studio Junction to ease the mounting traffic there,” added the BDA engineer.
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