Road connectivity to City to improve

Road connectivity to City to improve
Deccan Herald

‘Decongest Bangalore’ is the slogan of the IT City succumbing to a maze of narrow rugged roads. But the drive into ‘Destination Bangalore’ from any corner of the country seems to be only getting smoother. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has lined up some mega projects to boost the network of roads leading into the city.

Soon, a six-lane Elevated Highway along NH-4 will link the Bangalore City to Nelamangala and in the process decongest the Jalahalli Cross (Peenya-Dasarahalli intersection). While, the much-hyped NH-7 project connecting Central Silk Board road to Electronics City will begin by the end of July 2006. The project will be partly funded by the Centre and State, which has committed nothing less than Rs 40 crore to strengthen three major roads. According to senior NHAI officials, three stretches - Attibele intersection to Varthur (via Sarjapur), Chandapura-Dommasandra and Attibele-Anekal-Bannerghatta Meenakshi Temple, will be strengthened to increase their carrying capacity and divert the heavy vehicular traffic till the project is completed.

The other two projects include four-laning of the road linking KR Puram to Hospet on the Bangalore to Pune (Old Madras road - NH4) and Nelamangala- Hassan road on NH-48. The four-laning on the Bellary road (Devanahalli) is almost complete, say NHAI officials.

Elevated Highways

Fly-overs only shift the traffic bottlenecks further as it caters to an immediate need and the expansion of the city in future pose similar problems. The Elevated Highway over Jalahalli cross was conceived after the traffic volumes kept swelling.

According to a NHAI study, the highway witnesses a traffic volume of 1,30,000 PCUs (passenger car units) - almost double the tolerance level. Normally, a road with a traffic volume exceeding 60,000 PCUs calls for elevation to increase the carrying capacity as road widening is not possible. Elevation helps separate out the ‘through traffic’ and the ‘local traffic’.

BOT to tackle challenges

Problems of land acquisition in isolated pockets and sudden hike in land prices after project approval have delayed some projects.

A major hurdle is also the fear of hefty user charge (toll fee) levied on the Common Man. NHAI’s unique concept of creating four or six-laned elevated highways, along with retaining the ground level roads gives the consumer a choice.

An Elevated Highway costs Rs 40 crore per km, while the ground level costs Rs 5 crore per km. Yet, the "build, operate, transfer" (BOT) models can garner funds through designated contractor, who invests and develops the infrastructure. We have access controlled highways with service lanes that plug multiple exit and entry points.