City flyovers: which ones are duds, and which useful?

SHEER WASTE
Flights of fancy?
City flyovers: which ones are duds, and which useful?

The Times of India

Another flyover’s open to the public, at Basavanagudi. That makes it eight so far. But have all the flyovers helped in smooth flow of traffic? BT asked two experts to grade some:

George Kuruvilla, Town Planner

Sirsi Circle: 5/10
Plus:
It goes over a number of intersections.
Minus: Still under-utilised; it doesn’t emerge from an arterial or a ring road.

Hebbal: 3.5/10
Plus: It’s eased congestion.
Minus: The design’s too complicated. An efficient flyover should be as short as possible.

Richmond Circle: 0/10
Minus : What was a road was divided into three parts: the right, left and the middle which is the flyover. It has minimised the existing space and there are jams all the way upto the football stadium. Congestion passed on to the next junctions.

Hosur Road 3/10
Minus: Not eased traffic congestion.

Dairy Circle: 3/10
Minus: There are still jams; a flyover must ensure continuous traffic flow.

SC Karigowda, former director, Town Planning and now chairman, Institute of Town Planners, Karnataka

Sirsi Circle: 6/10
Plus: It’s a two-way flyover, with left turn traffic. A flyover must never be one-way.
Minus: Major traffic coming from Cottonpet and the bus stand cannot access Mysore Road via the flyover.

Hebbal: 8/10
Plus: It’s fairly good, because of the segregation of traffic at different levels.

Richmond Circle: 4/10
Minus: For the first time in the world, traffic is regulated by the police on a flyover!

Hosur Road: 5/10
Minus: Traffic piling up at Bommanahalli cross when vehicles come down.

Dairy Circle: 8/10
Plus: It’s reasonably good because two major traffic streams from Jayadeva hospital to Mico and back use the underpass. Traffic from Hosur Road sorted out through signals. Minus: But, as the vehicles come down the flyover, they congest the road at the critical point at the Cancer Institute. The roads should have been widened before constructing the flyover.



WHEN ARE FLYOVERS USEFUL?


• When they pass over an expressway so fast traffic is not stopped.

• When a railway line crosses a vehicular arterial route

• When built over a water body

• When it’s two-way

WHEN ARE THEY USELESS?


• When built over one intersection

• When built over the same kind of traffic mode, as in Bangalore

• When it’s one-way