Flyover woes: From frying pan to fire!

Flyover woes: From frying pan to fire!
Deccan Herald

Ever since the flyover was commissioned one and a half years ago at the Anand Rao Circle, motorists are scared to use it...

It was a Rs 26-crore initiative to ease the traffic congestion, but it only ended up aggravating the problem.

Ever since the flyover was commissioned one and a half years ago at the Anand Rao Circle, motorists are scared to use it. Riders take a careful look at the road ahead (Sheshadri Road) when they are on the flyover and instantly decide to take the less-congested Race Course Road if the Sheshadri Road is blocked.

Besides the Sheshadri Road, traffic gets clogged atop flyover too, especially during peak hours. It takes over 15 minutes to cross this half-a-km stretch during rush hours. Motorists sometimes drive back on the flyover, which is a one-way, while the hapless policemen remain mute spectators.

Does it mean the flyover is of little use? “It would have been appropriate to extend the flyover up to K R Circle. Then, it would have served the purpose of easing traffic congestion,” B Nagendra, Bangalore Development Authority’s Assistant Executive Engineer, who was in charge of the flyover work, told Deccan Herald.

According to DCP Traffic (West) Ramasubba, the flyover has just shifted the traffic from Khoday Circle and Anand Rao Circle to Subbanna Circle (near Maharani’s College) and K R Circle. “Handling traffic on Sheshadri Road has been a major problem. Had the flyover been extended up to Subbanna Circle, it would have considerably eased the problem,” he added.

The BDA wanted to extend the flyover up to K R Circle, but shelved the plan as an alignment of the Metro Rail would pass near K R Circle.

“Still, it could have been extended up to Subbanna Circle,” official sources said.