Mindless plans continue to sprout

Building roads in the air to break gridlock...
Deccan Herald

After promises surfacing in all shapes to rid Bangalore of its traffic woes, help seems to be taking an aerial route. Literally. A committee of experts has proposed elevated roads over roads, and even drains, for the City.

After promises surfacing in all shapes to rid Bangalore of its traffic woes, help seems to be taking an aerial route. Literally. A committee of experts has proposed elevated roads over roads, and even drains, for the City.

Suggested at the eighth meeting of the Empowered Committee for Infrastructure, the two ideas of Road-over-Road (RoR) and Road-over-Drain (RoD), that are still in the pre-feasibility stage, won the approval of committee members for further study, including Chief Secretary B K Das, on Friday.

If the Road over Road (RoR) toll expressway works out, then the core ring road will get high on stilts, and travel time from north to south and east to west will reduce by half, it has been promised.

Meanwhile, the Road over Drain (RoD) elevated expressway would run over the four valleys — Challaghatta, Hebbal, Vrishabhavathi and Koramangala — crisscrossing the city. The dedicated expressway would be supported by slender columns. As a bonus, a green cover will be created on the sides of the drain to make travelling more pleasurable.

The RoR proposal was made by the expert sub-committee formed recently to look into the possibility of toll expressways in the City.

The committee rejected having an elevated toll expressway from Raj Bhavan to Hebbal, on the grounds that it will increase traffic chaos. It instead suggested having an elevated ring road over the core ring road and connecting it to the outer ring road through various loops. Entry and exit ramps will also be provided for at major junctions.

The Empowered Committee is of the view that a Special Purpose Vehicle can be set up for construction of expressways, revealed Mr R K Misra, Member of the Empowered Committee.

The RoD proposal, presented by private agency Geodesic, is being seen as a way to maximise the use of existing infrastructure.

“By using the base of storm water drains, land acquisition is kept to the minimum. This elevated road can be used as dedicated bus lanes, which will help decongest the road,” explained Mr Muralidhar, a representative of Geodesic.

However, it remains to be seen if these proposals are workable solutions.