NICE way out of wayward traffic

NICE way out of wayward traffic
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: If Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise Limited (NICE), which is implementing the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project, has its way, city roads will be totally decongested in the next few months.

‘‘Completion of the peripheral road, part of our project, will ease traffic congestion in the city to a great extent,’’ NICE managing director Ashok Kheny told this website’s newspaper on Monday.

The proposed peripheral road will link Tumkur Road to Hosur Road, thereby avoiding the need for long distance outstation vehicles, mostly trucks, from entering into the city. ‘‘Separating local and outstation traffic is very important,’’ said Kheny.

The city roads, according to him, are congested not because of traffic volume, but due to lack of proper management and planning. One-ways, flyovers and grade-separators were all temporary solutions, which will ease traffic at one stretch and congest at some other point. However, the grade-separator at Mekhri Circle has helped smooth flow of traffic.

Apart from widening roads, speed of vehicles should also be ensured and 15 meter area on either side of the Ring Road should be declared as no construction zones, he suggested.

A study commissioned by NICE on Tumkur Road, Mysore Road and Bannerghatta Road showed that the growth of traffic on these roads is much more then expected.

‘‘Since the project is already approved, we will complete the road by next August, provided the government gives us the land,’’ he said. For this stretch, NICE requires 3,260 acre, of which it has got just 1035 acre till date.

The NICE chief said that apart from early completion of their project, they are also willing to take up a free comprehensive study on traffic pattern in the city should the government ask for one.