Marathahalli Madness

Blame It On Railway Bridge: It Takes 35 Minutes To Cross Just A Few Hundred Metres
Marathahalli Madness

The Times of India

Whitefield was fast emerging as the Gurgaon of Bangalore, with big corporates and builders following ITPB’s move into that area. But now, the massive congestion at Marathahalli bridge and Beniganahalli railway overbridge on Old Madras Road is discouraging fresh shifts to Whitefield.The TOI team of Sujit John and Swati Anand and photographer Md Asad checks how serious the problem is and what’s being done to address the issue.


Ahoarding for a restaurant, just after you cross the Marathahalli railway bridge, states: ‘Finally, fine dining doesn’t involve infinite driving’.

It’s not really the work of an advertising genius, but after driving for over 35 minutes to cross the bridge that extends for a few hundred metres, the copy is almost Cannes material.

Unfortunately, most people who undergo the trauma of being stuck in a jam at this traffic bottleneck every day, aren’t travelling for the love of cuisine, but are simply commuting to or from work.

We decided to take on the rush-hour traffic and left MG Road at 8:40 am. Eleven km and 50 minutes later we found ourselves facing the dreaded traffic near the bridge. Suddenly, the stagnation at Domlur seemed a lot milder. Our chauffeur panicked at the sight of the conglomerate of vehicles and suggested an alternative route. But we decided to plod on.

On our way, we encountered a weary lot of passengers. “It takes one hour for me to go from my place on Airport Road to my office. There aren’t enough buses and when the monsoon begins, it’s complete horror,’’ says Usha Subramanian, an SBI employee, who gets stuck on her two-wheeler on the bridge for as long as 35 minutes every day.

Further down, we meet Vinita Rustogi, a harrowed mother, trying to steer through a supposed short-cut with her 7-year-old. “Taru comes on this bridge every day on his school bus, so he warned me against it,’’ she half-smiles.
Adds Taru knowledgeably, “My school told the bus to come early to the stop because of this traffic.’’

With the 3,000-odd apartments coming up a cough away, with even one vehicle per house, the Marathahalli bridge seems far from a sunny day.

TOI TEAM DRIVES ACROSS RUSH-HOUR CRAWL
8.40 am Trinity Circle
8.50 am Stranded at Domlur
9.05 am Slow-moving traffic on Airport Road
9.30 am Finally reach Marathahallibridge & wait

Story of the bridge too far


If you look down from the Marathahalli bridge, you will see the first signs of a pillar, that will one day hold up a new, broadened bridge. This vital bridge is expected to convert the crazily congested spot into one that will facilitate free-flowing traffic.

After many months of discussions on the project, efforts to put together necessary funds, and the inevitable foot-dragging, the state government, together with the Railways, has started work of converting the narrow two-way bridge into a six-lane one. It is also simultaneously broadening approach roads to the bridge into good six-lane ones, and creating viaducts under the bridge to enable vehicles coming from the sides to enter the main road without disrupting traffic on it.

Funds for the Rs 12-crore project (about Rs 6 crore each for the bridge and approach roads) are almost all there. Most of that has come from the BDA (which was entrusted the project after PWD said it did not have money). About 10 days ago, developer group Puravankara handed over a cheque of Rs 50 lakh for the project.

R K Misra, member of the state’s empowered committee on infrastructure, says the plan is to first build a three-lane bridge, then demolish the existing one, and thereafter build another new three-lane bridge at that spot.

But don’t expect any of this to happen very fast. The approach road was to complete by May 29, but this has now been pushed to July 31. As for the bridge, the official version is that work will be completed in four months. But sources involved with the bridgework told TOI that the first three-lane bridge will take a minimum of eight months, and the whole project at least one year.

At the work site, the TOI team heard complaints about BDA not shifting some electrical lines in the path of the new bridge, which has already caused delays in the project. When BDA was asked about this, executive engineer (electrical) Anjanappa said work has been taken up on top priority and is expected to be over in a week.

“We are removing the overhead electrical lines and replacing them with underground cables to enable broadening of the road. The cables have been laid, and we expect to charge these cables in the next few days. Then we’ll dismantle the overhead lines,” he said.

BDA executive engineer Satya Prakash added that the whole project is a difficult one, as it involved a very high railway overbridge.