Two-way traffic likely on Jayamahal Road

Two-way traffic likely on Jayamahal Road
Deccan Herald

The Jayamahal Road in the City might once again be opened to two-way traffic. But, how soon will that be, depends on the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP).

The Jayamahal Road in the City might once again be opened to two-way traffic. But, how soon will that be, depends on the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP). According to BMP sources, it could just take a month to bid adieu to the one-way rule on the stretch.

Last November, the traffic department had ordered the Jayamahal Road (along with Nandidurg Road and Millers Road) to be made into one-way. The rule was to last only for two months - till the railway underbridge (RUB) at the Cantonment railway station was completed and the road (from Cantonment station to Mekhri Circle) widened. However, even after nine months, the motorists from the R T Nagar and Benson town continue to follow the one-way rule. Thanks, to the slow pace of road-widening work. Months after the proposed railway underbridge at Cantonment has been completed, the BMP, co-partners of the South Western Railway, is yet to commence the road-widening work.

The fallout of the delay is anybody’s guess. All the traffic from the Millers Road and that from the Cunningham Road and Vasantnagar (via the new underpass) ply at two different levels. The vehicles dangerously run into each other at the entrance of Jayamahal Road, as it tapers abruptly.


‘No felling of trees’

The slow pace of the road widening was due to the dilemma over sacrificing a row of 50 to 60 trees, claim BMP officials.

BMP Commissioner K Jairaj and officials, who inspected the site on Thursday, seem to have found a solution.

“We will widen the road without sacrificing the trees. We will widen the road to 21 metres (five lanes). But we will not fell the trees. Instead, we will carve out a separate lane for two-wheelers and autorickshaws beyond this row of trees. The total cost of the widening works might take about Rs 35 lakh,” explained a senior BMP official.

“A retaining wall to demarcate the level difference between the existing road and that which is passing through the RUB, will be built for safety. It is only a matter of one month,” he added.