Peripheral Ring Road on course

Peripheral Ring Road on course
Once in place this project will add another dimension to the city, says R Jayaprakash
Times of India

It's good news for Bangalore. The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has planned the much-needed Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) for the city. It's going to be a 110-km ring road that will circumnavigate the city linking the major highways - Tumur Road, Mysore Road, Old Madras Road, and the Hosur Road. The project estimated at a cost of Rs 550 crores is awaiting a final nod from the State Cabinet.

The proposed PRR alignment links major highways and district roads, thereby creating a direct corridor passage round the city. Plenty of commercial hubs and housing localities would come up along the PRR. Most of the intra-city heavy trucks would prefer this corridor instead of the Outer Ring Road, in view of the quick and safe traverse with marginal increase in distance. The BDA has proposed a six lane road with 1.5 metres of central median and two metres of earthen shoulder on either side with a minimum width of the road being 27.5 metres.

Since the PRR runs in a semi-urban belt for most of the length, the BDA has proposed to develop service roads only at urban limits and at junctions, keeping extra land on either side in rural stretches for developing service roads at a later date. Provisions for drainage, road pavement, ground water recharge, and artificial ponds are also being made.

It may be noted here that the BDA being the planning authority, prepared the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) for the Bangalore Metropolitan Area (BMA) for the first time in 1983 and revised it once in 1995. The Outer Ring Road and Inner Ring Road implemented by the BDA were part of the CDP. Even the Peripheral Ring Road was conceived in the original CDP indicating the tentative alignment. However, the Outer Ring Road project that was started in 1992 was completed in 2002 and much water has flown under the bridge since then.

The Outer Ring Road today offers the city the vital connectivity it needs. It added a new dimension to the city. The bitter part is that with so many intersections and the road acting as the only major linking road to many areas, the traffic flow is more than 6,000 PCU per hour.

With the PRR taking shape, stress on the Outer Ring Road will considerably reduce. The PRR will supplement it and regulate the movement of heavy vehicles.

Logistics


Length: 108.96 km Location: 14 to 22 km from city center, 2.8 to 11.5 km from the existing Outer Ring Road Feature: Six lane, 3 carriage way divided road Crossings: 12 major roads, 6 railway lines, 3 water supply lines Drainages: 48 major drains

Project cost


Land acquisition: 2,049 acres at a total cost of Rs 163.92 crores Civil works: Rs 326 crores Interchanges: Rs 30 crores (six railway level crossings)
Junction improvements at 12 road crossings: Rs 6 crores Major bridges: Rs 20 crores Miscellaneous: Rs 5 crores Total cost: Rs 550 crores

The route...


The PRR will connect four major roads coming into the city - Tumkur Road, Old Madras Road (Kolar Road), Hosur Road, and Mysore Road. This means that nearly 40 percent of the goods carriages can now take the PRR and move on to their destination avoiding getting into the city.

Some villages among the 99 villages on the edge of the city that are touched in the PRR project: Gangodanahalli, Varthur, Anjanapura, Uthralli, Doddabele, Challeghatta, Kodigehalli, Venkatapura, Agara, Gottikere, Bellandur, Lingarajpura, Avalahalli.