Hosur Road jam session

Hosur Road jam session
The famed Hosur Road, which connects Bangalore to Electronics City where major software giants have set shop, is always choked with traffic. Some tips and steps to clear the jam.
The Times of India

Bangalore: Traversing through the busy Hosur Road to reach Electronics City is a chastening experience. But the return journey is more tedious, having to negotiate bumper-to-bumper traffic. Thus, a trip to do business with India’s top honchos gets reduced to an agonising wait in the confines of a four-wheeler.
Traffic refuses to move on the four-lane Hosur Road between Silk Board junction and Electronics City. A vehicle needs over an hour to cover this stretch of barely 9 km during peak hour. If an accident takes place on this road, life comes to a standstill since the police need at least 40 minutes to clear the traffic. The journey back into the city then gets close to two hours.
Says a software engineer Praveen: “It takes us three hours to reach our home in Banashankari from our office in Electronics City in the company bus.’’
Why do we need 40 minutes to 1 hour to cover 9 km of straight road? The Times of India asked deputy commissioner of police, traffic (east) M A Saleem, in whose jurisdiction this road falls. He gave the following reasons:
Hosur Road connects Bangalore to various places in Tamil Nadu including Chennai. Earlier, Chennai-bound traffic moved on Old Madras Road via Kolar. This has been shifted to Hour Road because of the shorter distance and better connectivity. Umpteen number of buses, lorries and LTVs heading for Chennai, Salem, Madurai use this road complicating the scene round-the-clock.
15 years ago, it used to be a two-lane road which became four-lane in 1997-98.
In the mid-nineties, IT industries began to concentrate along this stretch in Electronics City’s various phases resulting in traffic congestion.
Fruit and vegetable wholesale market was shifted from Kalasipalyam in city market area to Singena Agrahara on Hosur Road and it led to an increase in the movement of mini goods vehicles on the stretch.
Development brought construction activity around Hosur Road and vehicles transporting construction materials further complicated the situation.
Super speciality hospitals came up along this road. Central jail was established near Parappana Agrahara. These places contributed to increased vehicular movement.
A large number of residential areas has come up on both sides of the road creating major road blocks in some places.
BOTTLENECKS
Right turns at Bommanahlli (Begur) junction Garvebavi palya Kudlu Gate Naganathapura junction Peak hours: 7.30 am to 10.30 am and 5 pm to 9 pm.
Some Steps
How to set the situation right and what temporary and long-term measures have been taken. Lorry traffic has been banned on this road as a temporary measure during peak hours. But this has not eliminated congestion yet, police admit. Three alternate roads to Hosur Road are being developed by the Public Works Department and the work is expected to be over by December-end. Bannerghatta Road (from Meenakshi temple) to Bommasandra. This is a single- lane road which is being converted into a two-lane road. Bommasandra on Sarjapur to Chandapura cross on Hosur Road. This is again a single road being made a double road. Once these two roads are ready, HTV will be diverted on these roads. Parappana Agrahara gate to Sarjapur Road. This ‘kachcha’ road is being developed and LTVs will use this road. Another long-term measure is development of a 14-lane highway on this road between Silk Board junction and Electronics City. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already laid the foundation stone for this work and it is expected to be ready by 2008. 14-lane highway
Ten lanes will be on the surface. Four lanes above surface (road on stilts). No acquisition of land is required to develop 10-lane road on the surface. There exists already an underdeveloped service road on both the sides of the four-lane Hosur Road along with a huge open drain. Service road will be used and the and drain will be covered. Finally, we will have six-lane main highway and service road (two lane) on both the sides.
To facilitate speedy construction of 14-lane highway, we will divert lorries, goods vehicles and long distance buses to the three alternate roads once they are ready for usage, Saleem said.
BMTC buses, dedicated buses plying IT company staffers and other LTVs will be allowed on the existing Hosur Road.
If this huge road is ready by 2008, we hope there will not be any problems till 2020, Saleem said.
The situation around Silk Board junction towards Koramanagala is less chaotic because traffic police have introduced one-ways. “We need to have a sixlane road from Vellala junction in the city on Hosur Road up to Silk Board junction. Bangalore Mahanagara Palike has already begun road widening process,’’ Saleem added.
According to a survey conducted by the traffic police, over 40,000 cars belonging to techies are taking Hosur Road at present every day along with 600 plus dedicated buses. Umpteen number of techies go to work on two wheelers.

Open NICE road
While the elevated expressway is one of the solutions, the government can take certain initiatives that would have an immediate impact in reducing the burden on Hosur Road.
Firstly, the NICE road can be opened immediately. Only two pieces of land are to be given to NICE near Bannerghatta Road. NICE road can take about 30-50% of the traffic from Hosur Road, especially traffic that is moving towards Bannerghatta, Vijaynagar and Jaynagar. Secondly, the road near Attibele that connects with Sarjapur Road has to completed upto Bommasandra. Lastly, it’s a mandate of the empowered committee that the road near Naganathapura and Kudlur be completed. This can also take traffic going towards Sarjapur Road. All these works could take about 3-6 months. The quickest that can be done is to open the NICE road.
— T V Mohandas Pai,
HR head of Infosys Technologies.


Improve auxiliary roads
The chaos on the stretch is building up for a long time and authorities have not taken concrete steps to curb the problem. Travel time to the city is nearly two hours now. The situation was anticipated a long time ago, but nothing has been done about it. The problem is compounded with rules on restricting movement of heavy traffic vehicles being flouted. An effective way of decongesting the stretch would be to make auxiliary roads motorable. Six such roads were identified and the authorities too were informed. But nothing much has been done so far. Among the auxiliary roads that can be made motorable by either broadening or asphalting are stretches near Central Prison, Kudlu and Attibele. The authorities could even start to charge some toll, specially for single use cars and trucks (plying during office hours). Car pooling should be encouraged.
— Kiran Mazumdar Shaw,
Chairman, Biocon


Execution is the mantra There has been tremendous economic development along both sides of the road and now’s the time to find a permanent solution. Several plans have been drawn up and the key issue presently is lack of execution by the authorities concerned. The industry’s request for the government is to work with seriousness and a strong urgency. Hosur Road houses not only the IT industry but other sectors too and is the main artery of the state that links TN. Unnecessary traffic has to be diverted away from the stretch — heavy vehicles from Attibele and those going to Koramangala. Work on these feeder lines has slowed down. Among the measures for improving the situation are developing the elevated road, training drivers not to stop unnecessarily and buses to stop only at dedicated bays. There is no need to think of new plans. Execution will help improve the situation.
— Som Mittal, Sr VP, Hewlett Packard Improve link roads
Travelling on Hosur Road continues to be a terrorising experience. The government has to improve the smaller connecting roads — Niladri, Bannerghata, Naganathapura, Singasandra, Gigni —that can take considerable congestion out of main Hosur Road. These service roads are not motorable, but a small budget can make them better and usable.
— H Prakash Rao, former president, Electronic City Industries Association (ELCIA)