Karnataka Govt To Invest Rs 9,200 Cr To Help Ease Traffic Congestion In Bengaluru

The Karnataka government has proposed to invest over Rs 9,200 crore to construct over 30 new flyover and underpasses in Bengaluru. This move will help ease traffic congestion in the IT capital of India. Once approved by the state Cabinet, the project will take 24-30 months to be completed.

According to the revised Master Plan 2013 released by the Bangalore Development Authority in 2017 revealed that Bangaloreans waste 60 crore man-hours in a year owing to shortage of public transport. About 1.18 crore citizens make 90 lakh trips per day with the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) taking half the load, the report reads. This lack of sufficient public transport has led to more private vehicles on the roads that in turn chokes up the routes, adding to the traffic.

However, the new plan will help ease congestion by rolling out alternate travel corridors.  

Battling congestion the hard way

Estimates by MoveInSync suggest that Bangaloreans spent more time travelling to office in 2017 (one-way) and time taken to reach the destination rose by six per cent, a three-minute delay. Not just that, a research paper published by the US-based National Bureau of Economic Research tagged Bengaluru as one of the slowest cities in India in its report Mobility and Congestion In Urban India.

The worst affected 

As of 2017, there are about 353 traffic signals in Bengaluru city. You would come across the worst bottlenecks at Silk Board junction, that sees commuters to and fro Electronic City and the Outer Ring Road (ORR). At peak hours, the traffic crawls at the pace of less than 4.5 km per hour.

Marathalli Bridge is another area is another stressed travel route with commuters to and from the Marathalli main road and the ORR.

Mekhri Circle is congested owing to the convergence of four lanes into a single lane. Those commuting from Jayamahal Palace and Sankey Tank add to the existing congestion.

KR Puram and Sarjapur handle similar traffic scenario everyday where commuters are stuck for hours together.