Banaswadi flyover fails in public test

Banaswadi flyover fails in public test
Vehicle users are relieved and disappointed as well with the flyover.

Deccan Herald

The rail-over-bridge at Banaswadi was thrown open to the public on Sunday on a trial basis. The aim of the exercise is to allow the traffic police to study the effectiveness of the system and iron out any problems that crop up, before the bridge gets officially inaugurated.

Commuters appear to be relieved, yet disappointed. While many expressed delight about the fact that the bridge has finally been completed, several voiced disappointment about the “rather shoddy” way it has been executed.

“We have waited so long for it to get completed, thinking we must be patient, it is for our own good only. Now they give us something that looks like this,” commented RB Engti, who travels regularly by the road “for both work and pleasure”. He opines that, while he thought the Lingarajpuram bridge was badly executed, the Banaswadi bridge makes the former “look like something out of Shanghai”.

Pratima, another commuter, is less critical. She has been “struggling everyday” to travel to and from her college. “At least I don’t have to worry about the underside of my [Kinetic Honda]”, she smiles. However, she thinks that the road on either side should be asphalted properly. Manikantha, an autodriver, is more resigned than otherwise. After all, he says, it is the government who is doing it, what else can you expect. “I will have to continuing riding my auto for a living,” he shrugs.

What stands out about the bridge is the fact that it has no central median separating the opposite lanes of traffic. The reason for this is that the bridge being too narrow, any breakdown of a vehicle while crossing it would lead to a traffic jam on the stretch, explained MA Saleem, DCP Traffic (East).

As for the trial period, he says, “The Banaswadi end of the flyover actually has two roads leading to it, so we want to make sure there is no confusion.” Subsequently they will ask the corporation to put up at least three-inch dividers.