Fixing the traffic jigsaw puzzle

Fixing the traffic jigsaw puzzle
Deccan Herald

Guess what? To accommodate the ‘one ways’ on Residency Road and Richmond Road, the traffic police has worked out an elaborate routing plan, which has turned several connecting streets topsy turvy. So you can’t go into Convent Road from Richmond Road, you can come into it only from Residency Road now and Hayes Road goes the other way from Richmond Road into Residency Road and straight into St Marks Road. Wow, that’s nearly six minutes of time saved from idling and staring vacantly till you get clearance at the unofficial signal at Citi bank corner going into Convent Road and the unbearably long signal at St Marks Road circle.

And there’s no need to wait at the Brigade Road signal to turn into the Brigade Road extension, but you can turn from Nagpal’s garage into the lane going to St Patrick’s complex and go into the Brigade Road extension leading to Hosur Road.

Again saves precious idling and ogling time at the Brigade Road crossroads.
But pray however does one get to the Airport Road? Although there are huge hoardings in the new routing plan, saying airport with pictures of an airplane for those who still don’t understand, you will never know until you try out the route yourself. I drove into Charles Campbell Road into St Philomena’s hospital from Hosur Road trying to find a way to Airport Road and then took a right turn at Mother Theresa’s Road, past Ashok Nagar police station. And I was driving around for nearly 10 minutes until I realised I had reached Vivek Nagar and was totally lost. A helpful auto driver who drew me a mental route map to get back to Airport Road grinned and wanted to know whether the Residency/Richmond Road ‘one way’ had got me too.

And tried to get into M G road from Castle Street? The only way out is to go all the way up into Museum Road and then there’s no way into M G Road from Symphony, but you need to go upto Mayo Hall and then come into M G Road. Confusing?
Then think again. Try crossing Cunningham Road and there’s no way you can do that. There are free lefts and free rights and you could be caught between, for the next half an hour watching the milling traffic around you. Or if you are trying to get to RT Nagar, then you go all the way to Ali Askar Road and do a round about before you find yourself in familiar territory.

What is most fascinating of the new ‘one way,’ routes is that as soon as you have finally got used to them and formed a habit in your driving mind of which roads lead where, the traffic police go and do it all over again.

So maybe you should not be driving at all and should auto it everywhere. But ever tried getting an auto on M G Road. “Alli full jam ayuthu,” (The road is jammed) says the auto driver and whizzes past you, leaving you gaping after him.

JANAKI MURALI