Malleswaram residents oppose proposal for grade separator

Malleswaram residents oppose proposal for grade separator

The Hindu

Ask BMP to reconsider the proposal, say it will be a waste of funds


BANGALORE: After the residents of Basavanagudi, who vehemently opposed the construction of a flyover near the National College, it is now the turn of residents and Citizens' Groups of Malleswaram to oppose the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike's (BMP) plans to construct a grade separator at Malleswaram Circle.

The residents have urged the BMP to reconsider the proposal because "the facility is aimed at addressing only the congestion at 5th Cross and Sampige Road intersection."

In a statement, members of the Malleswaram Swabhimanaa Initiative said that the proposal to construct a grade separator at the Malleswaram Circle is based on study of traffic volumes when the Rajajinagar and Modi Hospital grade separators were still under construction and repair works near the Sujata Cinema were in progress.

"The 5th Cross, where the grade separator is proposed is about 80-foot wide and feeds to Link Road, which is about 30-foot wide at its intersection with 5th Cross. The proposal to widen Link Road, one of the assumptions on which the grade separator is proposed, has been shelved," the president of the Malleswaram Swabhimanaa Initiative Sumathi Rao said in the statement.

Pointing out that the flyovers at Residency Road, National College and Anand Rao Circle have added to chaotic traffic downstream and are considered waste of public funds, the statement said the traffic on Sampige Road had decreased after the grade separators at Modi Hospital and Rajajinagar junctions have been thrown open. "Though the project is still a proposal, it is learnt that the estimated cost has escalated from Rs. 14 crores in May to Rs. 17 crores in November. This is a matter of concern," the statement said.

The BMP should keep the project in abeyance for at least a year and collect fresh data on traffic volumes on Sampige Road, Margosa Road, Link Road and the key intersections on these roads. The civic body should also forecast the traffic volumes in the arterial roads of Malleswaram taking into account the satellite bus stations proposed by KSRTC and the Metro project, the statement said.

Alternative solutions can be explored to decongest traffic at the Circle by converting some roads into one-ways, re-routing of moffusil buses, constructing new bus bay and bus lane and clearing the 8th Main Road from Yeshwantpur Circle to Krishna Mills.