Yaw(r)n No. 1 for the day: Core Ring Road to ease traffic

Core Ring Road to ease traffic
As part of the new Comprehensive Development Plan, this project will reduce travel time within the city.
The Times of India


It’s said to be among the many answers to decongest busy roads in the city. The Core Ring Road, a stretch which slices through the heart of the city, would be a six-lane road. When this takes off, commuters could zip through, reaching their destinations in ten minutes. The Rs 300-crore Core Ring Road incorporated in the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) is taking shape with the Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) allocating Rs 25 crores for this year in its recent budget. The project which will be implemented by the BCC will also be funded by the Centre under the National Urban Renewal Mission (NURM).

Upgrading would happen on identified roads - Race Course Road, Seshadri Road, Lal Bagh Road, Trinity Church Road, Old Mysore Road, and Puttanna Chetty Road, among others. This particular stretch has been identified because it was felt that the core of the city had to be fortified to facilitate smooth movement of traffic. The concept of a Core Ring Road was incorporated into the new CDP. Upgrading the stretch to six-lane was done by the BCC and BDA in tandem with a French company. The stretch is expected to be a no-stop zone and without Uturns. Designed along the existing roads, the entire stretch with 50 junctions is expected to be completed in three years.

After unveiling the CDP, BDA commissioner M N Vidyashankar had said, "in the CDP there is a component that deals with traffic management. This competent has to be shared with all civic bodies and widening these roads is the only way to decongest traffic". Accordingly, the alignment of the Core Ring Road had to define the limits of 'city core' and this was done by a visual survey of activity hubs, traffic count database and movement patterns of vehicular population.

Consequently, the layout maps for the roads identified have been drawn up and at some places the BCC workers have started working. At Seshadri Road, stray trees that obstructed the proposed sixlane route were cut. Old Mysore Road, on the other hand, apparently faces no problem as there is vacant land on either sides, at the far end is a four-lane road with physical barriers like a roadunder-bridge. On the required infrastructure upgradation, BCC engineers had said the idea is to facilitate people travelling within the city using easier routes. Then they need not go to the Outer Ring Road to reach a destination within the city, an engineer said. "To make it (Core Ring Road) six-lane and accommodate large volumes of thoroughfare vehicular traffic, we obviously require space. But we are being very careful about it, for instance at the Lal Bagh Fort Road, we won't be meddling into the botanical area. Puttanna Chetty Road is a very narrow two-lane road presently, this would be made four-lane", the engineer added. Like all other ring roads within the conurbation limits of the city, the Core Ring Road would have a road width of 30 metres. A mutual decision would have to be reached between BCC, BDA, traffic police and their respective engineers regarding the width and type of ring road.

Proposed six-lane thoroughfares
Old Mysore Road
Tank Bund Road
Lal Bagh Fort Road
Marigowda Road
Kengal Hanumanthaiah Road
Richmond Road
Trinity Church Road
Kensington Road
Meanee Avenue Road
Race Course Road
Seshadri Road
St John's Church Road