Flyovers, underpasses create new problems for road users

Projects such as the Richmond Circle flyover and rotary system at K.R. Circle, instead of easing traffic problems, have become a bane for the city’s traffic managers. While the absence of a long-term strategy has been blamed for these ills, political interference, ignoring advice from traffic experts and lack of coordination between the agencies are said to be the other reasons.

What ails the city’s infrastructure? Is it defective planning, lack of coordination between implementing agencies or political interference?

The proposed underpass at Tagore Circle in Basavanagudi that has raised a storm is threatening to join the long list of projects that have failed to provide expected results. While the project was approved in 2006, the police say they have nothing to do with it, blaming it on lack of coordination between the implementing agencies.
Political pressure

“The flyovers in Basavanagudi were conceived and pushed by politicians without seeking advice from experts. While the proposed flyover at Ramakrishna Ashram has been scrapped, the National College flyover has not really helped. Tagore Circle threatens to become another infrastructure eyesore in the city,” a leading traffic expert told The Hindu.

The introduction of rotary system to make K.R. Circle a signal-free junction is an example of how an agency moved ahead despite opposition from the traffic police and experts.

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) decided to remove the traffic signal at K.R. Circle and introduced rotary system much to the chagrin of experts, and today it has emerged as one of the dangerous junctions in the city.

“What K.R. Circle needed was a grade separator and not a rotary system. With the circle recording nearly 17,000 PCUs (passenger car units) per hour, the system was bound to have adverse consequences,” a traffic expert said. “In fact, the traffic density has come down as motorists are keeping away from the circle that has become difficult to navigate,” the expert pointed out.

“There is no performance evaluation of the projects. Flyover and grade separators have been initiated without adequate geometry. By the time the project is completed it fails to fulfil the original aims,” Abide member M.N. Sreehari said.

If the Richmond Circle flyover has a dubious distinction of traffic crossover, which is manned by a police constable, the underpass at Vijayanagar was hastily inaugurated. A portion of it has been closed to facilitate the Namma Metro work,

Among other completed projects, BTM Layout underpass is one way which could have been a two-way system. “Once the Hosur Road expressway opens for traffic, vehicles may pile up at Bommanahalli. Ideally, it should have been extended up to Vellara Junction,” Mr. Sreehari said.

Many major projects were not satisfactory in terms of feasibility, viability and convenience. They were also not integrated with the long-term vision, he said.

With the number of vehicles in Bangalore up from around 1.75 lakh vehicles in 1980 to 35 lakh vehicles in 2009, city planners face the problem of space constraint. In Bangalore, growth is happening first and planning is happening later.
Little space

“With very little space available for taking up new projects, the next best solution is being considered. For example, an ideal flyover requires four loops. However, not a single location in Bangalore can provide us with space to have four loops,” Additional Commissioner (Traffic) Praveen Sood said. An ideal solution to a traffic problem means huge land acquisition process, he added.

“Traffic situation in the city is dynamic. When the flyovers were conceived, roads were two-way. By the time they were completed, the roads had become one-way,” Mr. Sood said and added that everything looks insufficient due to growing traffic.

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