Hellish Roads 9: Airport Road

Welcome to Airport Road. Among the unique features of this road is perennial jam.

Getting late? Skip this road, make your boss happy
AIRPORT ROAD
Times of India

Whether it’s techies, tourists, shoppers, office-goers or those returning to their homes, the very thought of Airport Road brings to their minds images of never-ending traffic pileup. A road once where youngsters flaunted their flashy motorcycles, has today become a hub of commercial activities. Frequent movement of VIPs from the Airport results in traffic pile-ups while lack of traffic signals results in accidents and jams.

The nightmare begins at the Koramangala-Airport Ring Road junction where a flyover is coming up. Traffic pile-ups during peak hours (more than a kilometre), is Airport Road’s curse, which even the police don’t see an end to till the flyover is completed. The situation is expected to get worse when the road has to be blocked before the flyover is completed. Traffic will then be diverted on to bylanes in Domlur.

There are also other junctions along the stretch — Kodihalli and Marathahalli — with no traffic regulations. Marathahalli remains crammed with vehicles and shoppers throughout the day, the problem is accentuated by the narrow Munnekulalu bridge (Marathahalli junction). This bridge has become a major bottleneck due to the huge volume of traffic.

1 Problem Points
Ring Road junctions , Kodihalli : Koramangala , Manipal - Hospital, ISRO, Murugeshpalya, Airport entry and exit gates, Suranjandas Road, Marathahalli and Munnekulalu bridge.

2
• Traffic hours at is the thrown Koramangala out of - gala-Airport Road junction. There is only one diversion into Domlur.
• The rush hour traffic at the junction affects Airport Road and Indiranagar 100 Feet Road among other surrounding roads.
• During VIP movement, the police stop traffic on Airport Road.
• There is no signal at the Marathahalli flyover junction.
• Although trucks have been banned on the narrow bridge, there is movement of buses and heavy vehicles. Construction activities in the area have increased the traffic flow into the area.

3 What police say:
At the will Marathahalli be put up for better regulation. A series of arrangements have been planned to ensure smooth flow of traffic till the Koramangala-Airport Ring Road junction flyover is ready The flyover is expected to be functional by March 15. A median near HAL’s MDBC office-Suranjandas Road will be set up. Road signages and signals will be put up to improve the situation. —DCP Traffic (East) M.A. Saleem.


EXPERT OPINION
B.H. Sanjeev Kumar, consultant BATF .

• There are too many intersections too close to each other. There should be proper redesigning and better regulation.
• There has been uncontrolled use of land on Airport Road and some major apartment blocks are too close to the main road.
• ITPL and other company vehicles can be rerouted through ring road.
• Widening of the Munnekulalu bridge should be taken up immediately.
• During peak hours, movement of trucks, matadors can be banned on the stretch.