Naveen - 7 December, 2010 | Bangalore | BBMP | Road Works | Trees | Bellary Road | Road widening | Analysis | Transportation | Infrastructure | Jayamahal road

Referring to the DPRs for widening of roads around Palace grounds & Vinay's previous post:

a) Bellary road widening

(Mekhri circle to Palace road cross, abt 1.5km)

As we know - towards the city, the wider section beyond Mekhri circle (towards Hebbal) narrows down to the existing 4-lane width after the 6-lane Mekhri circle underpass. As a result, traffic piles up over long distances to get past this section.

There are two major off-shoot T-junctions - Sankey road & Palace road cross, which feed or take away traffic to /from Bellary rd. Widening this stretch will assist quicker transit between Mekhri underpass up to Palace road cross, no doubt, but, after widening, traffic is bound to pile up past Palace road cross (towards city) due to the narrow underpass at Windsor Manor (past which the road is again wider). Thus, eventually, the bridge will also have to be widened. If the authorities consider widening the bridge, then this makes sense as it will offer higher capacities all through to the junction at High grounds police station, which is close to city center.

With the available additional width, it might be better & more sensible to provide a dedicated BRT corridor between Palace Guttahalli bus stand (offset from the main carriageways with an island) upto Yelahanka, as I had proposed earlier. Though this would not offer much additional width for mixed traffic, it is a long-term solution to better public transport, which is necessary here due to absence of mass transits (HSRL will have no stops in-between, except at Hebbal & Yelahanka & also, it might be too expensive for general /daily commuters, even if there are such that require to travel only between these nodes).

b) Jayamahal road widening

(Mekhri circle to Cantonment station, abt 2.9km)

This section has been split into two: (1) Mekhri circle to Doordrashan kendra (CIL rd)-0.95km; & (2) Doordrashan kendra to Cant stn-1.95km appx. The 1st section is proposed to be 45m wide & the 2nd section, 30m wide.

This length includes the section that was the subject of another earlier DPR for "signal-free" road between Mekhri circle & Hopefarm (Whitefield).

Traffic on this road is not phenomenally high, as on Bellary road. Thus, widening may not seem so essential here - though this section may have more traffic once the road works (underpasses, etc) around cantonment station have been completed. The existing 'tree line' obstructs the proposed road widening, effecting the positioning of the moving lanes.

Trees along the 1st section (45m /10 lane) can be retained on the side away from Palace grounds (as existing now), but traffic lanes would remain physically separated. This may be okay, as they can be used only for left turning traffic (that turn into CIL rd). Additional lanes, if necessary on the side adjacent Palace grounds will mean removal of scattered trees since the tree-line on this side is not so well demarcated.

The section from CIL rd to Cant stn includes the Nandidurga rd junction, which is a major "choke point". Land acquisition widths (adjacent Palace grounds) vary between 6.5m to over 10.0m due to variations in the existing road widths. The attempt here appears to be to 'even' the section to a uniform 4-lane width throughout with provision of 2.4m wide sidewalks. Some trees will thus, become casualties.

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