Hellish Roads 2 - Residency Road

Richmond Circle flyover and Residency Road are choc-a-block with vehicles during school-hour traffic near Cash Pharmacy junction daily. Traffic piles up on the flyover and also at the junction below the flyover

HELLISH ROADS - 2
SWALPA ADJUST MAADI
TODAY, WE TARGET RESIDENCY ROAD
Times of India

Bangalore: On Residency Road near Cash Pharmacy, traffic jams are the order of the day. With schools, colleges, offices, restaurants and bus stops located here, week days are hellish. The flyover, roads and even pavements are crammed with vehicles.

Enter the school-zone, and the unwritten code is ‘swalpa adjust maadi’. It’s a toss-up between rush hour traffic and children darting across the road with vehicles parked haphazardly on Residency Road, Richmond Road and St Mark’s Road.

1 When is the school hour rush? 8 am to 9 am, 12 pm to 1 pm, 3 pm to 4.30 pm.

2 What are the bottlenecks? Cash Pharmacy junction, exit ramp of Richmond Circle on Residency Road, junction of Residency Road and Convent Road, Vittal Mallya Road-St Mark’s Road junction, Richmond Road, Ashirvadam Circle.

3 What the police say... “Our hands are tied as the children will suffer if we enforce parking rules strictly. Additional personnel are deployed to man traffic during peak hours outside schools,’’ says Traffic DCP (East) M.A. Saleem.

•One-way on Lavelle Road has decongested traffic on the stretch where the Bishop Cotton Boys School back gate is located.
• Schools have been requested to allow vehicles into the premises to drop and pick up children.
•There is also a project with the BMTC for schoolchildren.
•Some schools are allowing vehicles inside the premises to drop and pick up children in kindergarten.

4 What school authorities say...
“With the safety of students in mind, vehicles cannot be allowed inside the campus. There are 5,200 students and all vehicles cannot be allowed inside. Changing school timing too is not feasible as parents have regular work timings. Efforts are being made with the police and other authorities to improve the situation,’’ says Programme Co-ordinator, Bishop Cottons Boys School, Indrani Sudarshan.

5 Parents speak...* “I have to leave home nearly an hour before my son’s school begins at 8.30 am,’’ says R. Sanjay of JP Nagar, the parent of a pupil studying in Bishop Cotton Boys School.

•“Richmond Road is always blocked when I have to drop my child to school. The surrounding roads too get clogged from 8 am. Change in school timing will affect our schedule,’’ says Shahina, a parent whose daughter studies in Baldwin Girls High School. They are residents of nearby Neelasandra.

6 Is there some relief coming? Police want to make Residency Road and Richmond Road oneways from November. This may decongest the roads here.

YOUR VOICE
Following are some of the selected suggestions from our readers on decongesting M.G. Road and Brigade Road during weekends.

Widen roads:

The Parade Ground should be acquired. Both Cubbon Road and M.G. Road must be widened. There should multi-level parking at Parade Ground. Parking on Bridge Road should be banned including those of shopkeepers. All vehicles must be parked in the new parking lot.— S.K. Chowdhury, Kammanahalli.

Ban parking:

On weekends, parking should be banned between Kumble Circle and Cauvery Emporium on M.G. Road as well as Brigade Road up to Residency Road intersection in addition to Church Street. Shoppers and strollers should walk up the road and vehicle parking should be restricted to the southern side of Cubbon Road from the KSCA stadium up to Manipal Centre. — A.V. Narayan, Girinagar.

Ban vehicles:

Traffic congestion on M.G. Road and Church Street is mainly because of pedestrian movement. Lack of parking space results in vehicle moving slowly. Vehicles should be banned on Brigade Road and the Parade Ground should be utilised by creating multi-level parking which can also be used for other purposes. — M. Ashok Kumar, B.T.M. Layout.

Automated system needed:

Introduce automated pay-andpark system (on the lines of Brigade Road) on both M.G. Road and Church Street. Automated parking system will deter those who park their cars for long and also put an end to unauthorised double-lane parking. Contractors must stick to the angular parking mode and must not allow vehicles to be parked straight. Remove the traffic island on Brigade Road, near its intersection with Residency road. — Suhail Yusuff, general secretary, Brigade’s Shops and Establishment Association.

EXPERT OPINION
Prof M.N. Sreehari

While the capacity of the road itself is exceeded, parking should not be allowed. Parking on both sides of the road reduces the width by over 40 per cent. Get the Transport department and other authorities to direct the schools to allow parking in the playground while dropping and picking up children. Parking should be provided in some corporation buildings where the cellars have been encroached upon.