Project taken up after five years

Project taken up after five years
deccan herald

Every ten minutes, a train passes through this level crossing. A fatigued gateman puts the number of trains at 40 during the day and 75 at night! But each time, he readies himself to manually wind the barbed wire to drop the barricade (pole), he keeps his fingers crossed. Like the motorists on either side of the barricade, he too just hopes the century-old wires do not snap causing the traffic to freeze for long hours.

The junction in question — the Wheelers Road (ITC factory) railway crossing, might soon cease to be a nightmare to motorists. The long-pending Railway Overbridge (ROB) over this stretch is finally taking shape.

Though delayed for more than five years, the cost-sharing project of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) and the Railways took off on Tuesday without much noise.

“The Wheelers Road crossing is not only a trunk line for trains heading towards Delhi and Madras, but also a major transit point for vehicular traffic from Lingarajapuram, Kalyannagar, Banaswadi, Maruthisevanagar, Kothnur and surrounding areas. A flyover or an overbridge was the only solution to end the traffic jams,” says former MLA Rajanna, who has been actively pursuing the issue with the Railways and BMP authorities.

According to the sources, the ROBs at the Wheelers road, Lingarajpuram, and Banaswadi level crossings and widening of RUBs at Madhavnagar and Frazer town were to be carried out at a total cost of Rs 30 crore in 2001. “We had demanded the level crossing to be closed in 2001, as it caused accidents and frequent traffic jams too. The gate wires snap and strand the traffic for long hours till the repairs (welding) are carried out. However, we hope the project is completed soon and with minimum inconvenience to the road users here,” adds Rajanna.

“A rapid growth in the residential localities in this part of Bangalore has put additional pressure on the roads. We need to widen the roads and also complete the project within a short period, as the traffic will be diverted towards Frazer Town, which is already crowded. It is also the approach road to new layouts — HRBR, HBR, OMBR, Ramamurthynagar and KR Puram,” says a resident.

Proposed ROB on Wheelers Road

Location: Gymkhana ground to ITC gate

Length:700 m, Width:14 m, Height:7.5 m (highest)

Cost: Rs 15 crore (shifting utility services, electrification etc not included)

Shareholders: South Western Railways and BMP

Deadline: 18 months