Have a car, but don't want the steel flyover

I wish to make a disclosure first. I have a car and stay in North Bengaluru. I also take responsibility for being one of several people who voted the current state government in Karnataka to power. I travel daily to the Whitefield area in an office provided bus and the 25 km journey typically takes around 1.5 hours each direction! Whenever I have to go towards the city, just like anywhere else, I have to budget for the extra time that it takes to traverse through the traffic. I am in a way, a beneficiary of the controversial steel flyover that is meant to connect one of the crucial junctions in the north to the heart of the city. However, I am still against the construction of this steel flyover. Why? For a detailed technical analyses of why the flyover, to be built at an astronomical cost, would not do much to help curb the traffic problem, the reader can refer to other articles (like this, this, this, this, this and this). What I am going to provide is an analysis based on pure gut feeling and what I see around me so that the reader gets an idea on why there is such opposition from all quarters to this project in the city.

·         The stretch that I take regularly has the hanging bridge at K R Puram (commonly known as Tin Factory), one of the most notorious traffic bottlenecks in the city. Why do you need a hanging bridge just to cross a railway track ? In any case, the main issue with the hanging bridge at K R Puram is that there are 3 lanes from the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and  3 lanes from the Old Madras Road (OMR) that merge into 2 lanes towards Kolar and 2 lanes that continue the ORR with a split towards Whitefield. This merger and mixing of traffic creates a bottleneck that one has to only experience to understand.

·         Earlier, it was only the K R Puram junction that was the problem. But now, after the construction of Brigade Metropolis and Pheonix Market City and other large buildings on Whitefield Road, the entire stretch is congested. The additional high rise buildings have clearly added to the traffic. With more buildings under construction, this is only going to get worse.

·         The troubles at Silk Board junction is very well told. However, it must be noted that there is an elevated corridor towards Electronics City, and while it benefits those who can pay the toll, the added burden at silk board almost erodes the time gained. How I wish a metro was constructed at that time.

·         The flyover at Hebbal, which was an excellent one when built, is turning out to be insufficient now. I don't blame the engineers then as they did not anticipate the construction of the airport at that time. But today, we all know how busy the airport is, and is well into building a new terminal and runway. Also, with more high rises coming near Hebbal and all the way upto Yelahanka, I only see the number of vehicles going up to unsustainable levels. The planners of today are completely aware of this and cannot be excused for coming up with a short-sighted solution.

·         The Hebbal flyover wasn't such a pain in the first few months after the elevated corridor towards the airport was opened. It is only afterwards, as the traffic increased that the congestion at Hebbal has become severe. It is again the same story of 3 lanes and 2 lanes merging into 3 lanes that is causing all the trouble. I seriously worry that adding three additional lanes from the steel flyover is only going to make matters worse.

·         I also worry about the unfortunate ones who will not end up taking the proposed flyover. The existing road is already a signal-free corridor and the current underpasses at CBI junction, Ganganagar are likely to be demolished. While they are claustrophobic, they at least work. Demolition of these implies reintroduction of signals, and is likely to worsen the situation.

In summary, I simply don't see this steel flyover to help solve the traffic problem in the city. The only way the proposed flyover would meet the requirements is when all further development in the north is stopped (including expanding the airport) and we get loads of money magically to spend on it while balancing the environmental impact. This is not going to happen, so what's the way out? My vote is for a Metro Rail or a Mono rail on this stretch. Just looking at the sheer number of buses that ply on this stretch, between Hebbal and the CBD should convince one of the underlying demand for mass transit in this area. I am fine with leaving the car and using mass transit.