Traffic hold-ups are now common on Airport Road

Traffic hold-ups are now common on Airport Road

The Hindu

The police and road users have suggested some alternative routes

BANGALORE: Airport Road continues to be a scene for constant traffic snarls. The worst is at the junction with the Intermediate Ring Road and Indiranagar 100 ft Road because of the stalled work on the flyover there.

With major repairs going on along Old Madras Road, traffic towards to ITPL and Whitefield, where a large number of information technology firms are located, goes on Airport Road. This has resulted in traffic jams right up to Marathahalli where the Outer Ring Road diverts some traffic.

The flyover construction came to an abrupt halt last year following a dispute between the contractor, UP State Bridge Building Corporation and the Bangalore Development Authority. This has resulted in traffic having to move slowly from both the ring road and 100 ft road, with little room for vehicles on those stretches. The exit ramps at the Indiranagar and Airport Road ends have provided some relief but elsewhere the traffic jams remain.

The traffic police have said traffic from the airport, where nearly 70 domestic and international flights land each day, has contributed to the problem. Another factor is the large number of vans and buses used to transport call centre staff towards Koramangala and Whitefield. Other staff buses use the road to go towards the IT firms at ITPL. Public transport undertaking buses going towards Varthur, Marathahalli and Whitefield, of course, have to use this road. With the traffic jams on Airport here to stay for some more months at least, the traffic police and regular road users have come up with suggestion for alternative routes either towards Manipal Hospital or the airport, avoiding the ring road-Indiranagar junction.

Vehicles going towards Leela Palace Hotel can also use the alternative road as can those driving towards Koramangala. Vehicles can take a diversion from Indiranagar through Jeevan Bima Nagar to enter Airport Road behind Leela Palace. It becomes easier from there to go to the hotel or to Manipal Hospital or even the airport, avoiding one major bottleneck. One can also use the ramp from the Indiranagar end if the ring road is not the destination.

For those going towards Koramangala, the road through Austin Town-Viveknagar to the Games Village may be an easier alternative. Some clever motorists even take a short cut from the ring road through Domlur Layout to exit on Airport Road bypassing the traffic at the junction but this will be through some badly surfaced roads and streets.